Blurred Present
by Durhelediel
Summary: AU- Luke Skywalker suffers an accident and finds himself with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. FINISHED!!
1. Default Chapter

Jedi Master Luke Skywalker felt a thrill of joy to be in his X-wing again with Artoo-Detoo behind him.  After having to fly a standard shuttle with his Jedi students as passengers for so long, with no speed and no firepower, he had almost forgotten the pure joy of flying solo in a faster machine.  

            Luke grinned suddenly as a memory of Master Yoda surfaced.  _Reckless is he_, the much older Jedi had told Ben in the swamps of Dagobah so long ago now.  _Never his mind on where he was; what he was doing…_

            After so many years of hardships and tests of the Force, Luke had almost gotten rid of the recklessness that had so characterized his youth.  Almost, but not quite.

            Artoo beeped at him.

            Laughing out loud, Luke answered, "Yes, Artoo, it is nice to be back in the X-wing.  Just keep an eye out for that convey while you're at it, okay?"

            Artoo warbled an indignant reply that Luke didn't bother to try to translate.

            Focusing his own attention back to what he was in the X-wing for, Luke sobered.  A mysterious convey of about six ships had been making havoc of the New Republic's shipping freighters.  They would drop in-system, attack, board the ships, steal the cargo, and leave as quickly as they came.  So far there were only droids as living survivors.  At the urging of the Senate, Luke's twin sister, Leia Organa Solo, President of the New Republic, had requested that he take some time to help investigate the mysterious pirates.  Eager to help out his sister, he had agreed and now, urged by a vision in the Force, he was at the edges of Known Space, near the remote planet of Tangoria.

            And here he had been for four hours.

            He could wait.  A Jedi must have patience.  The New Republic envoy would arrive any moment, and if his vision had been correct, so would the pirates.

             Artoo suddenly gave him a trilling warning.

            "I see it, Artoo," Luke soothed the little droid.  Across from Tangoria's nightside, and Luke's position, the New Republic envoy had dropped out of hyperspace.  As arranged before he had left Leia at Coruscant, Luke set his comm unit to a select frequency and toggled it on.  "New Republic envoy, this is New Republic X-wing AA-589 on the dayside.  Please report status."

            A relieved woman's voice soon answered him.  "New Republic X-wing, this is _Bothan's Sting_ reporting all green.  _Crystal Gleam and __Alderaan both report green as well.  Going downside now."_

            Luke frowned.  _Alderaan was here?  She hadn't told him…_

            Switching to another, more private frequency as he kept his senses stretched across the space around the envoy, he said, "Nice surprise to see you here.  You should have told me."

            Silence answered at first, then Leia's voice replied, "Sorry, Luke.  I didn't know myself I was coming until after you departed.  A…friend had her ship taken in for repairs but needed to come out here so I volunteered."

            In the distance, the three ships began to swing out to where Luke waited for their run down to the planet.  He watched them grow closer, a distant sense of disquiet invading his thoughts.  In a preoccupied tone, he said, "Just be careful."

            "Luke?  What is it?" His sister asked, her tone worried.

            And suddenly he knew. 

            "Abort!" He snapped.  "They're coming in right in front of you!" And even as the three ships began to loop around, he wondered if he was crazy…No one jumped in-system that close to a planet…

            And then there they were, six gleaming ships with no insignia between him and the now-retreating New Republic ships.  If the pirates were caught off-guard with their quarry already running from them, they quickly recovered to put on speed to catch up with them.

            His eyes narrowing, Luke toggled his comm switch again to a broader frequency.  "Unidentified ships, this is New Republic X-wing AA-589.  You are to identify yourselves and power down for boarding and questioning."

            A harsh male voice spat, "What?  You must be joking!"

            Luke smiled grimly and eased his throttle up.  Picking up speed, he began to draw closer to the six ships.  "Not lately.  Again, I repeat, you are to identify yourselves and power down for boarding and questioning, or risk being fired upon."

            "You can't fire on us!" The same male voice growled.

            Luke raised an eyebrow, silently urging his X-wing to gain on the ships faster.  At the rate he was gaining, he would barely catch up with the pirates before they would get within firing range of the Republic's ships…and his sister.

            "My opinion differs from yours then," he answered.  "You are encroaching on New Republic space and committing suspected acts of piracy.  As a New Republic military official, I have every right to fire on you."

            "You don't understand!" A new voice broke in, almost sounding panicked.  "We're hauling a special cargo…"

            "Shut up!" The original male voice broke in.  "We don't have to tell him nothin'!"

            Ignoring the exchange, Luke calmly repeated, "Power down and prepare for boarding or risk being fired upon.  Your time to decide lasts as long as it takes for me to get near you."

            "Go suck a _guut egg!" The male spat at him before shutting down the transmission._

            "There's our answer, Artoo," Luke said tensely.  "Hang on back there." With a roar of his engines, he applied the full speed of his X-wing, the acceleration momentarily pushing him into his seat and flipped the switch that would let his wings rise into the position that gave the X-wing its name.

            Catching up to the ships faster than they expected, he once again tried to reason with them.  "What is your answer, Unidentified ships?"

            In response, two of the smaller, more maneuverable ships looped around and started firing on him.  Prompted by his danger sense in the Force, Luke quickly inverted a loop of his own and dived to avoid the laser fire.  Hanging onto his dive for just a few seconds, he flipped the X-wing to the portside and curved it upward, coming up behind the two ships and opening fire as well.

            Sensing extreme panic from the minds inside the two ships as they swung almost desperately out of his range, Luke frowned.  Something was not right here.  But the pirate captain was obviously not going to give him time to try to figure it out as the lead ship, a reoutfitted Mon Cal Cruiser, began to spat ion charges at him.

            Immersed into the Force, Luke easily evaded the blasts of blue and used his advantage of smaller size to swoop under the belly of the Cruiser.  Arming his missiles, he fired four of them quickly into the aft section of the belly and began to crawl for distance.  The first two torpedoes hit and took out the shield in that section of the ship while the last two finally impacted mere seconds later to punch through the aft and explode.

            The explosion was strangely and disturbingly out of proportion for simply hitting the aft of a Cruiser.  Luke quickly twisted his X-wing around to observe the huge fireball that was trying to leak into space.  He interestedly noted that the three ships near the Cruiser were trying to get away from it as fast as possible but even he could tell that they would not succeed.

            "What have you done?  We were carrying an exploding gas!  You've doomed us all!  You…" And then the voice was silent, the lead ship exploding into billions of pieces, the fireball and shockwave taking the other three ships with it.

            And Luke realized with a wave of horror that the shockwave of gas and fire was heading his way as well.

            "Luke!  Get out of there!" He heard Leia's panicked shout as he spun the X-wing into a fast retreat, stretching out with the Force, trying to find a way to help his ship go faster than the doom that was catching up with it.

            Wincing slightly, Luke hit the button that would propel Artoo out of harm's way toward the planet; Artoo was equipped with fitted rockets that would just barely get the droid out of the way.  He knew that this was one race he was going to lose even as he urged all the power in his engines to travel faster, have greater speed.  As the fireball engulfed the X-wing, he sent one final good-bye to his sister…sensed the other person who was with her and at the same moment sending her a farewell as well.  Then he knew only blackness.


	2. Chapter 2

Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his eighteen-year-old Padawan learner, Obi-Wan Kenobi, sat in companionable silence in the passenger compartment of their transport to the newly inhabited planet of Tangoria on the edges of Known Space.  The colony of about five hundred humans that had settled there had asked for a Jedi team to come and mediate during their elections of their first monarch and the Jedi Council had sent Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan.

            "I think they just wanted to get rid of us for the moment, Master," Obi-Wan finally said, still looking straight ahead at the back of the pilot's head.  A slight smile tugged at the corners of his mouth but did not emerge.  Now a man, the Padawan Jedi had a braid that hung to his middle back and piercing eyes that a liar could not look in.

              Qui-Gon let his smile blossom fully on his face.  "That may indeed be the case, Padawan," he agreed simply, his deep voice quiet.

            Obi-Wan sneaked a glance at the Jedi Master.  "If you don't quit defying the Council, Master…" He couldn't help himself from saying.

            "Peace, Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon answered, trying not to laugh.  Even after six years together, Obi-Wan loved to point out to him each time he defied the Jedi Council.  To Qui-Gon, it was more like a joke now; he wasn't so sure about how serious Obi-Wan was with it sometimes.  "You knew my reasons."

            Grinning openly now, Obi-Wan turned his head toward the sole window in the tiny transport to gaze out at the wideness of the empty space.  The planet of Tangoria was beginning to loom larger in the window, reminding Obi-Wan again of how the Council had decided to send the two Jedi where they could do the least damage.  Tangoria was a beautiful blue-green jewel that seemed to radiate peace and love and Obi-Wan found himself almost sleepy with all the peace he was feeling from the planet.

            Until suddenly, with a violent crack of soundless shock, Obi-Wan found pain, terror, death and sorrow slamming into him via the Force.  Jerking back reflexively from the window, he noticed a slice of—light?—stretch through blackness of space.  Straining to see, he glimpsed a gigantic fireball and a black speck before the light vanished.

            "Master?" He murmured, his eyes fixated on a barely discernable black speck floating near the day side of the planet that they were approaching.

            A hand rested soothingly on his shoulder and he knew that Qui-Gon was peering out the window now as well.  "I felt it too, Obi-Wan."

            The echo of pain remained, as did a fading presence that was in the direction of the black shape they were nearing.  "What happened?" Obi-Wan asked, confused.  "I've never felt or seen something like that before."

            "I don't know, but we need to find out, hm?" Qui-Gon gracefully maneuvered his tall frame out of the squeezed in passenger section and knelt beside the pilot.  "See that shape?  I need you to go out there.  We might need to tractor it in if it's too big to fit in your cargo hold."

            The pilot, used to dealing with traveling Jedi, nodded and moved his ship to directly pass by the freely rotating shape.

            Obi-Wan, with his love of piloting, studied the ship as they approached.  Though blackened and obviously heavily damaged, he could not place the design as anything he had ever seen before.  An obviously one-man craft, its body was an elongated bubble and its two wings were shaped like an X.  Already his hands itched to get near it to explore it and he had to calm himself.

            "It's small enough to fit, Master Jinn," the pilot was saying.  "I'll have it scanned for any harmful substances before you go back there."

            Qui-Gon nodded.  "Thank you." Standing, he sent Obi-Wan a slight prod through their Force link.  "Come with me, Padawan."

            The damage seemed even more extensive in the harsh lighting of the cargo bay to the ship.  Canted on its side, it seemed inelegant but agile.  On closer inspection, Obi-Wan could see that the nose of the ship was pulled slightly outwards like a faceted spear.  There was also a space behind the cockpit that looked like a droid would fit but was empty.  On each side of the cockpit were bristled nozzles.

            "It's a fighter," Obi-wan breathed, amazed.  "Like no fighter I've ever seen before."

            "Nor I," Qui-Gon dryly commented from beside him.  "Let's see the pilot of this fighter.  I sense he has little time left in this galaxy."

            Obi-Wan nodded and together the two Jedi lifted the cockpit canopy up with the aide of the Force.  The pilot was slumped against the side of the interior, quite obviously unconscious.  Very gently, the Jedi worked together to unstrap the restraints holding the pilot in place and laid him on the ground beside them.

            Kneeling on each side of the man, both Master and Padawan observed the blood soaked and unfamiliar black jumpsuit the man wore.  The helmet was cracked from what must have been an extremely hard blow against the canopy and blood leaked out of the helmet from the head to drop onto the floor.  The right knee was crusted in blood and twisted at an awkward angle, a little piece of the bone poking through the jumpsuit and Obi-Wan winced in sympathetic pain.

            Being extremely gentle, Qui-Gon lifted the helmet and pulled it off of the man's head to reveal a man about ten or twelve years older than Obi-Wan.  A large gash that revealed the skull above his left eye poured blood and his skin had a grayish cast.

            Obi-Wan frowned.  Didn't he know this man?  Where had he seen him before?  A memory tried to click into place in his mind, but something prevented it.  It was the oddest feeling, and Obi-Wan felt as if he was floating in time, seeing this young man's face overlaid with a younger version of it.  But how did he know him?  He'd never seen him before—had he?  Dizzy, he tried to stand and found that he couldn't tell up from down.

            Strong arms caught him as he fell.

            "Padawan, what is it?  I can feel…What is it?" He heard Qui-Gon asking as he fought to stay conscious.

            Opening his eyes, slightly surprised that they were closed, Obi-Wan found himself staring at a very concerned Qui-Gon.  "I…don't know…It's as if I know him, but I don't…It's the strangest feeling, Master."  

            Qui-Gon's eyes hardened as he thought.  

            "Master?  What is it?" Obi-Wan asked, sensing the direction his master's thoughts were going.

            Qui-Gon shook his head.  "Later," he murmured, helping Obi-Wan stand.  He turned to stare down at the young man lying so close to death…and noticed for the first time the lightsaber that hung at his side.

             This man was a Jedi?  There were hundreds of Jedi but Qui-Gon knew the faces of all the ones younger than himself.  He had not seen this young man before, he was sure of it.  So where had he come from?  And what was the ship he had been in?

            And what was he, a Jedi Master, doing pondering questions while this man's life was dwindling away?

            "Come, Obi-Wan, we need to get him into a bacta tank on the planet as soon as possible," Qui-Gon ordered.  Deciding that lifting the man with hands might be too risky with his outward injuries and possible inside ones as well, Qui-Gon used the Force once again to lift him.  "We'll see what we can do through the Force until we land."

            Obi-Wan, still feeling a lingering effect of the strange disturbance of time, nodded and followed his master.


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks to all of you who have written to me already about the first two chapters. I will do my best to finish posting what I have and to finish it soon so that you are not left waiting long. Enjoy!!

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Obi-Wan fingered the grip on the lightsaber that the man had had dangling from his belt.  The sleek cylinder that revealed its bright, clean green light was indeed the weapon of a Jedi, though it did little to reveal anything else about the strange man.  Though he still felt the strange disturbance in the Force every time he got too near the man, he was learning how to push it to the back of his mind.

            "Master Jinn?"

            Obi-Wan turned around at the same time Qui-Gon did to see a small, short man in a doctor's professional white jacket enter the observation room that was adjacent to the room with a bacta tank.  Tangoria had limited supplies and resources and a very small medical facility but when the doctor had seen the extent of the young man's injuries, he had whisked him immediately off to be worked on.

            "Yes?  How is he?" Qui-Gon asked politely.  The doctor had been so preoccupied with his new patient two hours earlier that he hadn't even stopped to introduce himself to the Jedi.  Evidently, all the colonists knew that they were here and who they were.

            The balding doctor wiped his hands off on the corner of his jacket before reaching out to shake Qui-Gon's hand.  "Sorry about the rush back there," he quickly apologized, his voice high-pitched and fast.  "Had to get him in bacta pronto, right?  How do you do?  I'm Dreb Monta, Head Physician of Tangoria's Medical Facility.  I need to know the patient's name for when we call him out of bacta.  Got some amazing injuries; looked to be in a bad accident—what was it?"

            Obi-Wan's head was spinning with the rapid change of subjects but Qui-Gon simply smiled.

            "I'm fine, Doctor Monta," the Jedi Master responded.  "I don't know his name; we happened upon him as we were coming in to land.  He seemed to be in some kind of explosion but that is all I know.  What can you tell me about his injuries?"

            The bouncy doctor turned to gaze through the plexiglass at where the man bobbed slowly up and down in the single vat of bacta tank that the medical facility owned.  For the first time, the doctor's face frowned and his speech slowed down.  "He's in a bad way, Master Jinn.  Broken putella, internal bleeding, severe head injury; your Jedi healing techniques sealed up the internal and saved his life but much more healing needs to be done."

            Qui-Gon was silent a moment, regarding the battered body of the man they had saved in the pinkish fluid who had more questions than answers.  Finally, he inquired, "When can he come out?"

            Doctor Monta shook his head swiftly.  "Don't know.  Maybe tomorrow; maybe longer.  It all depends on how long it takes him to heal.  Come back tomorrow and see for yourself."

            "Thank you, Doctor," Qui-Gon murmured after him as he left.

            "What do you think, Master?" Obi-Wan asked quietly as he and Qui-Gon left the medical building to walk into the deepening evening of the Tangorian night.  Cool breezes lifted the Jedi Master's long hair as the two Jedi walked toward the small cottage where they were supposed to sleep while they were on the planet.  

            Qui-Gon gazed up at the sky filled with stars and noted the absence of craft entering or leaving the atmosphere.  Filled with peace, he sighed.  "We'll have to wait until tomorrow.  If this man is a truly a Jedi, then I suspect that he'll be recovered enough to talk to us for a little while.  We'll go in-between breaks with our hosts."

            Obi-Wan found himself thinking of his reaction when he first encountered the man as the Jedi entered the cottage.  Throwing himself down on the couch in the central room that served as the living area, he ran his fingers through his hair.

            "Padawan?  Are you still thinking of earlier?" Qui-Gon asked softly as he took a seat in a chair across from the couch.

            Grimacing, Obi-Wan nodded.  "It was such a strange reaction!  I've never felt that before.  It was…no, it's too…never mind." He let out a frustrated sigh.

            Qui-Gon raised an eyebrow.  "Try me, Padawan."

            Biting his lip, Obi-Wan finally whispered, "It was like I was displaced in time."

            The only answer he received from Qui-Gon was a nod.  Tired and needing to mediate on his feelings, Obi-Wan stood and retreated to his room off of the left of the living room.  Maybe when he got to talk to the stranger things would clarify themselves; he could only hope so.


	4. Chapter 4

"These mediations seem to be going very smooth, Master," Obi-Wan said from Qui-Gon's left.  The two Jedi had just completed a long morning full of sitting at a head table and doing practically nothing except listen to two men talk.  Tangoria seemed to seep peace into its inhabitants and the Jedi presence suppressed even more ruffled feathers to bring productive discussions and debates to fruitful closes.  Qui-Gon estimated that their assistance would not be needed for too many more days longer, though he would request that they stay to try to piece together the strange occurrences of the Jedi they had found.

            "I felt you drawing on the Force to keep yourself awake, Padawan," Qui-Gon rebuked with a smile.  "Though I have to agree that it's nice to be able to be bored at a dispute."

            Qui-Gon felt the mental sigh of his apprentice right before the eighteen-year-old answered, "I wish it were that way on Coruscant.  I've never seen so many beings find so many things to argue about."

            A corner of Qui-Gon's mouth lifted in a wry smile.  "Politics." He was about to add something else when he felt Obi-Wan's emotions jerk and _slide_.  It was the same feeling he had had through their bond the first time Obi-Wan had seen the stranger Jedi's face; a sliding of emotions that turned into a swirl of older, maturer thought patterns of an age that Obi-Wan had not reached yet.  "Padawan?"

            Obi-Wan looked up at him and for a moment Qui-Gon would have sworn to his grave that it was an older man with many years behind him that gazed at him just then.  With a murmur, Obi-Wan said, "He's awake."

            Qui-Gon's stomach sank into his knees.  It was almost as if Obi-Wan and this stranger had a bond, but a bond of what?  Time?  Strong emotions?  Burying his misgivings of allowing Obi-Wan near the other Jedi, Qui-Gon laid a hand on his apprentice's shoulder, breaking the intense look of deep thought on Obi-Wan's brow.  "Focus your mind, Padawan.  Keep your mind tightly blocked until we can know for certain why it is that this man has a disturbing effect on you."

            Obi-Wan nodded, once again eighteen and under his guidance.

            Side by side, Master and Padawan approached the medical facility.

            As Obi-Wan had said, the stranger was indeed awake.  Awake and fussing about when he could leave at the doctor.

            "Ah!" Doctor Monta exclaimed in obvious relief as Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan entered the doorway of the recovery room, arms flailing madly in all directions.  "There they are!  Master Jinn, I hope you can talk some sense into this boy's head.  He wants to leave; says there are no other Jedi but him and his 'students'.  Talking nonsense so it must be the head injury.  Calm him, calm him!"

            Soothing the doctor, Qui-Gon quickly ushered him out and closed the door behind him.

            To turn around and find piercing ice-blue eyes boring into his.  All doubts of whether or not this young man was indeed a Jedi flew from Qui-Gon's brain the instant their eyes locked.  The diamond hardness of this boy's spirit was none other than a Jedi's, though the pure strength and power that he felt radiating from him while awake rivaled none other than Yoda's.  When he spoke, Qui-Gon was taken by surprise by the softness of his tone and the weight of hardships that lay beneath it.         

            "Are you the Jedi the doctor spoke of?"

            Qui-Gon walked around to the foot of the bed that the young man was sitting on.  He was dressed in a loose medical robe and his body was lean and hard from physical activity; no idle boy was this.

            Glancing back at where Obi-Wan had settled himself unobtrusively in a corner of the room, Qui-Gon crossed his arms and smiled.  "I am.  My name is Qui-Gon Jinn and I am a Jedi Master.  This is my Padawan learner, Obi-Wan Kenobi." He gestured toward Obi-Wan, catching a sudden flicker of strong emotion run through the young man on the bed.

            The sandy-brown haired young man, a bacta patch covering half of his forehead and his leg stretched out stiffly in front of him on the bed, still managed to tense and appear suddenly intimidating as his eyes found Obi-Wan in the corner.  Very slowly, as if he couldn't trust the words that were coming out of his mouth, the boy asked, "Obi-Wan Kenobi?  How old are you, Obi-Wan Kenobi?"

            Obi-Wan was staring back at the young man just as intensely, Qui-Gon noted.  In the same tone of voice, he answered, "Eighteen."

            The Jedi paled and slumped against the back of the bed.  "Eighteen?  An eighteen-year-old Ben?  What is going on?" He muttered to himself.

            Qui-Gon waited patiently and then asked, "What is your name?"

            "I don't know if I should tell you," the Jedi said, still talking slowly, his emotions tight with uncertainty.

            Frowning, Qui-Gon demanded, "Why not?  It's considered polite to return a favor with something that has equal value.  I believe you owe us at least your name for saving your life."

            For several long, tense moments silence reigned in the room and Qui-Gon was beginning to believe that the Jedi was going to remain stubbornly silent.  Finally, though, he released a cleansing breath and his emotions cleared as he came to some sort of decision.  Very, very quietly, he said, "My name is…" and Obi-Wan joined him as he said, "Luke Skywalker".

            Qui-Gon was surprised at Obi-Wan's sudden knowledge of the Jedi's name but Luke himself seemed not a bit surprised.  With a kind of weary resignation, he seemed to give himself up to the moment.  

            "I'm the last Jedi Master," Luke continued.  "At least, in my time."

            "_Your time?" But even as Qui-Gon asked, he heard Obi-Wan saying in the living area of the cottage last night, __"It was like I was displaced in time." _

            Qui-Gon felt questions build inside of him as the implications of what Luke had said fully hit him.  Before he could form even one, Luke made as if to stand and Qui-Gon could feel the young man's pain and exhaustion roll out from him in waves right before the slender Jedi fell back onto the bed.

            As if on cue, Doctor Monta rushed back into the room.  "Talk any sense into him yet, Master Jinn or Padawan Kenobi?  Right now he needs more rest; another dip in the bacta tank.  Hours of healing are needed here.  Will you visit later, Jedi Master?"

            Qui-Gon forced a smile on his face as he looked back at the displaced Jedi.  "If he's up to it, we're supposed to dine with one of the delegates for the kingship tonight.  We'll return an hour before sunset."

            Luke nodded, his blue eyes dull from the amount of pain he was surpressing via the Force.  "I'd like a chance to get out and stretch my legs," he answered, carefully not looking over at Obi-Wan.

            The doctor clapped his hands.  "Good, good!  Healing is quick for Jedi; the stroll will be fine.  An hour before sunset will see you together.  Bring clothes for the Jedi, can you?"


	5. Chapter 5

Luke felt a tugging on the breath mask over his face and used his left leg to kick himself to the top of the bacta tank.  His right knee was mostly healed but he didn't want to overly strain it before it was needed.  As he let the doctor's assistants gently press the release on the side of the breath mask and remove it from his face, he felt the two Jedi enter the building.

            Climbing out of the bacta tank and pulling the robe around him as he stood on a grate to dry off, he shook his head slightly.  An eighteen-year-old Ben?  As strange as all this sounded, the resemblance was too strong to deny.  Plus, he had not felt any tinges of deceit from the Jedi.  How in the name of Alderaan had he traveled through time?  And what kind of harm was he causing by being here?  Could he find his way back to where he belonged?  Would he meet his father?

            _Enough, he sternly rebuked himself as he was assisted down the rather steep ramp that led to the main floor.  _Patience.  You are here; the Force has allowed you to be here.  Go from there.__

"Glad to see you awake again!" The little robust doctor exclaimed as he entered from a side door.  

            Luke felt the corner of his mouth twitch into a smile at the pure unselfishness that he felt from the doctor.  Rarely had he ever crossed a being that was not a Jedi that was so pure.  "Glad to be awake again, Doctor Monta," he murmured, distracted as the Jedi crossed over to him.

            The bigger, taller Jedi—_Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn_, Luke reminded himself of the name—handed him a black bundle.  "We had clothes replicated like the ones you were wearing when we found you and Obi-Wan's letting you use his spare cloak since you two are of a similar size.  Depending on the length of your stay here…" the Jedi paused and Luke could almost hear the words 'in this time' in the empty space before Jinn continued "…with us, we can get you something more permanent."

            Luke gave a short bow, not entirely sure how to act around a real Jedi Master.  "Thank you," he said politely, taking the garments from him.  As he entered the recovery room and shut the door, he saw mixed emotions flicker across Obi-Wan's young face.

            A few minutes later, dressed in a black jumpsuit with a cloak so brown it seemed black, and his lightsaber returned to him by a silent Obi-Wan, Luke breathed in the night air of a younger Tangoria.  "It's nice to see some things never change," he remarked as the three of them began walking toward a side street.

            Master Jinn, his strides and presence in the Force strong and confident, smiled.  "This must be extremely strange for you, Master Skywalker."

            Luke felt himself blushing.  "You can just call me Luke, Master Jinn.  I'm a Jedi Master by default since I was the last Jedi.  Only after I began to discover that others who were in hiding or who didn't know what their abilities meant did I see that some Jedi had survived.  Yet they still called me a Jedi Master."

            Qui-Gon frowned.  "The 'last Jedi'?"

            Luke caught himself.  It was exciting to actually meet other, experienced Jedi and to see a younger version of Ben, but they _are part of the past.  He would have to watch the names that he used to try not to influence or change future events too much._

            "Yes," he answered slowly, choosing his words carefully now.  "A Dark Jedi hunted them all down and killed them; or so he thought.  Evidently some of the Jedi's offspring were hidden and were able to grow up not knowing about their abilities.  I myself grew up not knowing about my connection to the Force—just knowing that I was different but not understanding why I could do things no one else seemed to be able to do—until…" Again he caught himself and glanced quickly at the young Obi-Wan.  "Until someone came along and gave me a little push."

            Obi-Wan met and caught his gaze as they halted under a streetlamp in front of an ornate house.  "Until I came along, right?  Older, of course."

            "Padawan…" Qui-Gon cautioned.  From the older Jedi's tightening emotions, Luke could tell that he had not been the only one to realize that this merging of the past and future might turn out to be more harmful than good.

            Obi-Wan exchanged a look with the Jedi Master and Luke could sense some sort of communication via the Force between the two before Obi-Wan's blue eyes hardened into a look that Luke knew well from his older face.  It didn't surprise Luke then, when Obi-Wan turned to Luke and clarified, "I feel my future merging with yours every time I'm near you so I know we have some kind of future together.  I sensed your hesitancy to say my name so I knew it had to be me."

            Luke couldn't help but smile at this younger, stronger, more confident version of the Ben that he had known.  Even though he smiled, he felt a vague uneasiness inside of him.  No one had been able to slide through his mental blocks to feel his emotions since before he and Mara Jade had gotten engaged.

            Mara…

            The thought of his spunky fiancé caused all traces of his smile to vanish away.  She had been on the ship with Leia, right before the fight and the explosion.  Surely both his sister and Mara believed the worst by now when no traces of his ship or himself were found.  Could they feel him in the Force while he was trapped on a younger Tangoria?  Or, sensing nothing, fear him to be dead?

            "What is it?"

            "Are you alright?"

            Suddenly, he was aware that both of the Jedi were beside him, holding onto his arms as if they thought he were too weak to stand.  And to his great astonishment, he found that he had fallen into a half-crouch.

            "Sorry," he gasped, struggling to stand with Qui-Gon's mighty aid.  "I just…got tangled in my times.  Everyone will think I'm dead…but I'm not, am I?  It's just all so confusing."

            Qui-Gon, his kindly eyes shining in the night, frowned.  "Perhaps we should postpone the dinner…"

            "No," Luke hastened to reassure him.  "No, I'll be alright.  I need to get away from that building for a while.  Please, lead me."

            Clearly doubting but unable to argue against the stubbornness he could feel in the younger Jedi, Qui-Gon nodded.  "We're here anyway.  Shall we go in and be bored together?"

            Obi-Wan, for a moment like his old self, snorted back a laugh.  "By the Force, I hope so."

            Obviously not understanding the private joke between Jedi Master and apprentice, Luke just shrugged and followed them into the house.


	6. Chapter 6

The dinner went as smoothly as politic dinners usually go.  Landon B'runi, the host and one of the men who were vying for the kingship, kept his dinner lively with jokes and humorous stories.  The rather large guest list of twenty dignitaries all showed up shortly after the Jedi arrived.

            Everything seemed to be running smoothly; except for Qui-Gon noticed that Luke was silent the entire dinner.  The younger Jedi could have been set in stone, if not for the very few times a corner of his lip would tug upwards, trying to form a smile.  Focusing deeply into the Force, Qui-Gon was surprised to find that the Jedi had erected strong barriers within the last hour or so that they had been here to guard his mind.  Even with the barriers, he could still detect a level of uneasiness and discomfort that had settled in Luke's mind.

            It did not come as a surprise when, later in the evening during the social mingling and some local dancing, Qui-Gon noticed that Luke was missing from the gathered crowd.  Glancing at his Padawan, the two Jedi quietly stepped out to the rear balcony.

            In the dark night, away from the lights of the dinner party, the balcony was hidden in black shadows.  To the casual eye, the balcony appeared to be empty but Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan knew better.

            "Master Skywalker?" Obi-Wan murmured into the slight breeze. 

            It was if a cloaked figure had stirred and a light peeked through the gathered clouds when Luke revealed his hidden presence to them.  Moving to the right, out of the way of any of the windows that overlooked the balcony, Qui-Gon gestured Obi-Wan to follow him to where some plants had begun to creep over the railing.  There Luke stood, leaning on the railing, staring into the night.

             "Luke?" Qui-Gon softly called as he approached the slender Jedi.

            Very quietly, Luke said, "Don't call me 'Master', Obi-Wan.  I see there is so much that I don't know; so much that you…" He stopped short but the bitterness in his voice was reflected in his emotions.

            Obi-Wan touched Luke's arm and Qui-Gon could sense a lurking suspicion in his apprentice's mind.  "So much that I didn't teach you, right?  That's what you were going to say, wasn't it?  I was your teacher, your Master, and I didn't do the job right or did a horrible job of it in the first place."

            Luke glanced at the younger man.  Qui-Gon was shocked by the depth of hurt in his eyes.  "You never finished, Ben…Obi-Wan…" He hesitated and turned to face Qui-Gon.  "I'm so confused.  I don't know what to even call your apprentice!  This is someone who I looked up to as an older man and here I am: now the older man.  I feel as if time is slipping through my fingers and something disastrous will happen should I stay here any longer but I don't know how I got here so I definitely don't know the way back.  Do you?"

            Qui-Gon felt the strength of the Jedi's emotions swell…and then ease.

            "I'm sorry," Luke apologized, turning once more to stare at the stars and planets in the night sky.  "I don't know what came over me.  I usually have more control than that."  His right hand tightened unconsciously.

            Qui-Gon laid a gentle hand on Luke's tense shoulder.  "It will be alright.  Tomorrow we will begin to discover the circumstances that brought you here to try to recreate them to let you return.  I've had enough of all this social chit-chat.  We should let  you return to the medical building for observation."

            Luke sighed and was prepared to return when Qui-Gon felt Obi-Wan resist.

            "Master," the Padawan said slowly.  "I think I'm going to stay with Luke tonight."

            Qui-Gon frowned.  "I think it best if you stay as distanced from him as possible since you two have a future together.  We're trying to limit the damage that this circumstance has put us in."

            Obi-Wan looked up, a defiant gleam in his eyes.  "The damage, I think, is already done, Master.  I want to know more about how we meet…"

            "No, Padawan," Qui-Gon stated firmly.  "We'll drop Luke off at the medcenter and then return to our quarters." Putting a Force-filled determination behind his words and directing it at his apprentice, he hoped that that would be the end of the matter.

            But by the way Obi-Wan's resentment filled their bond, he knew that they would have to discuss this matter further before the end of the night after letting Luke return.  

            Making polite excuses to leave, the three Jedi swept out into the night, each one silent in his own thoughts.  Qui-Gon was turning to ask Luke what time would be better for him for them to come by in the morning when he saw Luke grab his side and gasp, halting in the middle of the street.  

            "What is it?" He barked in concern, feeling the Jedi's intense pain radiating in the Force.  Grabbing Luke to steady him, he wondered if some of Luke's injuries were being overly stressed.

            Luke, too much in pain to answer, merely dropped to his knees and curled up in a ball, moaning.

            Obi-Wan, however, as much in tune with Luke as he had been since he arrived, spoke up, "It's…strange, Master." His brow creased with pain of his own and he let out a gasp.  "Master…"

            Qui-Gon felt the stab of red-hot pain lance across Obi-Wan's brain.  "Padawan, speak to me."

            "Master," Obi-Wan groaned.  "It's like…I don't know.  We need to get Luke to the medcenter as soon as possible."  Qui-Gon could feel the amount of deep concentration in his Padawan as Obi-Wan forced his sudden headache to the back of his mind and standing.

            Using their muscles with minimal assistance in the Force, the Jedi team got Luke to his feet and hustled him off to the medical facility.


	7. Chapter 7

"Very strange," Doctor Monta hissed between his teeth several hours later after various tests were done on the now unconscious Luke.

            "What is strange, Doctor?" Qui-Gon demanded.  He hated waiting and he and Obi-Wan had been forced to wait for three hours.  Obi-Wan's pain had passed quickly but Luke had been semi-conscious by the time they had arrived at the medical facility.  Doctor Monta and his assistants had tested Obi-Wan briefly but dedicated the last three and a half hours to examining Luke down to the last detail.

            The small, squat doctor wiped a cloth on his balding head and sat down heavily on a chair beside the two Jedi.  Through an observation window that had been darkened for the past few hours and was now lightening to let them see through it, Qui-Gon could see Luke laying prone on a table with different kinds of testing equipment surrounding him.  

            "Well," the doctor sighed.  "This is going to sound terribly strange and with the equipment I have here, I can't be entirely sure…"

            "Just say it, Doctor, please," Obi-Wan pleaded, quivering in nervous anticipation.  Qui-Gon frowned at him and sent him a mental prod to be patient.

            Doctor Monta sighed again.  "Well, in my professional opinion…Jedi Skywalker is regressing in age, starting with his body.  His emotions will start to regress as well, if they haven't already.  I've never…never seen anything like it.  His pain will increase as the process speeds up.  Where did you find him?"

            Qui-Gon pursed his lips.  "In the middle of space.  We have cause to believe that he's from the future.  Other than that, we don't know much else than you."

            Instead of being disbelieving, the doctor nodded sadly.  "That makes sense with his condition.  If you don't find a way to return him, since he is in the past that he does not exist in, he will eventually _cease to exist_.  In both times.  Do you understand, Master Jinn?"

            Qui-Gon, numb with shock, nodded.  But he wasn't so numb that he didn't forget to ask, "And what of Obi-Wan?"

            "I evidently know him in the future," Obi-Wan explained briefly.

            Thinking for a moment, the doctor snapped his fingers.  "He's beginning to regress here, but in the future he's beginning not to exist at all so it is affecting you since you knew him in the future.  Although I doubt you know of it, I would stake my career that your headache was a memory of him being erased." Here he paused.  "He's not…important for the future, is he?  Him being here and disappearing might change the entire future."

            Qui-Gon found himself glancing at Obi-Wan.

            In response, his Padawan threw up his hands.  "Don't look at me!  I don't know." Then he stopped and frowned.  "Although…something tells me that I know him for years but he doesn't know me that long.  Strange, isn't it?  Why would I know him longer than he knows me, besides the obvious fact that I'm older than him?  Do I become his guardian as he grows up?  Does it have something to do with the disappearance of the Jedi by the Sith Lord?  This is all so confusing." He rested his head in his hands as the doctor just stared at him.

            Qui-Gon sent his apprentice soothing, calming thoughts through their bond as he tried to think this piece of information.  Before he got very far, his comlink beeped at him.

            "Jinn here," he reported.

            The voice was brisk.  "Master Jinn, I urgently request you come to my abode as soon as possible at 52 West Grid Avenue.  You are needed to settle a dispute."

            "Be right there," he assured the man.  Switching off his comlink, he faced Obi-Wan and the doctor, who were both looking at him.  "When do you think Luke will waken again, Doctor Monta?"

            The doctor sighed.  "Probably a few hours.  I gave him a pain suppressant to help him deal with his body's reversal.  Someone who is familiar with the Jedi and their abilities needs to be here when he does wake to be with him."

            Qui-Gon glanced to Obi-Wan.  He had tried to protect his Padawan from the effects of being near Luke but it seemed that no matter where Obi-Wan was, as long as Luke was in their time the apprentice would suffer.  Luke was a grown man, though younger than Qui-Gon himself, and seemed to have a level head on his shoulders.  He supposed Obi-Wan would be alright with Luke now; or at least as alright as he could possibly be.

            "Stay here, Obi-Wan," he instructed.  "I don't know how long I'll be and I agree with the doctor that someone should be here when Luke wakens."

            Obi-Wan nodded and managed to look calm about the possibility of nagging the future for answers to questions he had.  Giving his apprentice one extremely stern look and a nonverbal warning through the Force, Qui-Gon left to try to solve a dispute.

            Slowly, Luke opened his eyes.  Once again, he found himself in the recovery room of the medical center.  Sighing, he slowly sat up, feeling his right side tingle with the movement.

            "Good, you're awake," Obi-Wan's younger voice stated from his left.

            Glancing over, Luke saw that the younger Jedi was sitting on a chair and watching him closely.  The older Jedi, Qui-Gon Jinn, was nowhere to be seen.  "Hello again," he said cautiously.  To his surprise, his voice came out a little higher-pitched then he remembered it being.  "Where's Qui-Gon?"

            Obi-Wan shook his head.  "He was called away to mediate a dispute a couple of hours ago.  I was told to stay with you."

            "Why?" Luke demanded, instantly suspicious, his temper flaring.  His eyes widening at his own burst of emotion, he tried to suppress the feeling of anger.

            Obi-Wan's eyes narrowed for a moment but he remained silent for a moment.  "I think that's something for Doctor Monta to discuss with you."  His eyes unfocused for a moment before once again fixating on Luke with their intensity.  "He's coming." Standing to vacate the chair, the young Jedi learner moved to lean against the wall across from Luke's feet as the squat doctor entered.

            "Good!  I see you're awake again!  My, but do Jedi recover fast!" Doctor Monta exclaimed, plopping his bulk down on the chair Obi-Wan had been sitting down on.  Sobering quickly, the doctor tightened his lips.  "We need to have a discussion, Jedi Skywalker."

            Luke merely settled himself into a comfortable position.  Fifteen minutes later, comfort was no longer an option after hearing the doctor's prognosis.  

            "What?" Luke asked in a whisper.  His eyes were wide and he felt himself trembling.  "So, I'm going to reverse in age until I'm nothing, is that what you're saying?  And in my time it's like I never existed?"

            Doctor Monta nodded.  In an effort to cheer him up, he tried to joke, "What?  It's not like you're an important person, right?  Just one Jedi out of many, correct?"

            Luke blurted out, forgetting Obi-Wan was in the room with them, "You have no idea, Doctor!  I help rescue a woman who turns out to be my sister from death and she helps organize a rebellion to get rid of an evil leader over the galaxy.  If I'm not there, she'll die and so will millions of others.  Even if the other person who helps me rescue her somehow does it on his own, I destroy planet-destroying superweapons and find the lost descendants of the Jedi to rebuild the Jedi Order.  If I'm not there, no one else cares enough to do it in my place and no one will want to!"

            Obi-Wan reached out through the Force and sent calming waves to Luke.  Luke bit his lip as he realized what all he said with Obi-Wan listening in.  Now the younger Ben knew too much about the future.  Had he altered things now? 

            Doctor Monta gazed at Luke for a moment, then looked over at Obi-Wan.  "And how does Master Jinn's Padawan fit into your future?"

            Now Luke definitely knew he had to be careful.  "Doctor Monta, I can't say with him in the room."

            "Why not?"

            Luke felt Obi-Wan's curiosity as he responded, "I don't want to alter the future anymore than I already have."

            Doctor Monta stood and towered over Luke.  "Jedi Skywalker, the future is already altered and will become more so when you eventually cease to exist.  Padawan Kenobi is deeply affected by whatever is happening to you; I need to know the influence he has in your life to determine how much I need to be concerned with him."

            Luke still hesitated, but then sighed and gave in.  "Obi-Wan Kenobi, whom I know as Ben Kenobi, lives on Tatooine and seems to watch over me as I grow up with Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru.  When I turned eighteen…" and for the next hour Luke caught up the doctor and a wide-eyed Obi-Wan on the future.

            When he had finished, both he and the doctor turned their attention to Obi-Wan.  "Ben is my birth name," the teenager breathed.  "Obi-Wan is the name I got when I became a student at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.  I haven't gone by the name 'Ben' in a long time."

            Like an eerie parody, Luke heard the older Ben's voice saying, _"I haven't gone by the name 'Obi-Wan' in a long time…long time."_

            Shaking his head with the strange merging of the past and the future, Luke brought his attention back to the present.  "Look, now that Obi-Wan knows what he's going to do in the future…"

            Luke cut off as Obi-Wan suddenly gasped and jerked, his eyes unfocusing.  

            "Obi-Wan?" Luke asked cautiously.  Dimly, he could feel a disturbance in the Force but could not pinpoint the location.

            "It's Qui-Gon," Obi-Wan stated, his voice filled the utmost certainty.  "He's in trouble somewhere on this planet."

            The doctor stared at the two Jedi as they stood and both focused into the Force: Luke into the Force that he had been taught and found on his own; and Obi-Wan through the bond that he and Qui-Gon shared.

            At the same time, they said, "Near the west."

            As they both ran out the door, the doctor rapidly stood and shouted after them, "You need to stay here to rest!" but neither one heard nor cared.


	8. Chapter 8

Qui-Gon grunted and opened his eyes to see absolutely nothing.  He was in a dark, closed space somewhere on the planet, that much he knew for certain.  His head throbbed above his right ear and when he gingerly touched the spot he felt half-dried blood sticky in his long hair.  That would explain why he felt as if he had been in this same laying down on his side position for a while.

            Someone had used a heavy object to knock him out.

            Getting his hands underneath him, he used his upper body strength to lift himself up and tried to stand.  An intense shot of pain, starting in his left leg and traveling to his brain, caused him to fall back down.  Evidently, he had broken his leg sometime before being knocked out. 

            Leaning, sweating, onto a nearby wall and forcing his leg to go straight before him, Qui-Gon searched his memory for what had happened to him.  Since his head was swimming and his vision was blurred, even in the dark, his captor or captors must have hit him extremely hard on his head to get him to go down.

            Ignoring for the moment that he couldn't remember how he got here or who had done this to him, Qui-Gon steadied his head long enough to focus into the Force to find Obi-Wan.  

            _Padawan, hear me._

            Promptly, his apprentice answered, though his mental voice seemed distorted somehow.  Perhaps from Luke's appearance in the wrong time?  Forcing himself to concentrate on Obi-Wan's reply, Qui-Gon heard, _I'm here, Master.  Where are you?  What happened?_

            Holding his aching head in his hands, Qui-Gon said, _I don't know where I am.  I have obviously been captured and have some injuries.  My leg is broken and I don't think I can walk to escape.  Focus on me to find me, Padawan._

Obi-Wan gave him a mental nod, and suddenly Qui-Gon felt a strong presence in the Force join Obi-Wan, wherever they both were.  It must be Luke, he realized.  The other Force presence seemed strong, but at the same time diminished.  Which didn't make sense.  Did it?

            _If Luke is regressing, perhaps that's what it would feel like to touch someone in the Force who was reverse aging, Qui-Gon mused.  It was an interesting thought.  And one that would have to be explored later._

            From his position on the floor, Qui-Gon glanced around to try to get a feel for his surroundings.  In the pitch blackness, hardly anything could be seen, but as his eyes adjusted and his headache began to retreat somewhat he could make out dim shapes.  A circular object that his fingers found out to be a bowl near his side was filled with lukewarm water and a lumpy object in the near corner seemed to be a stool.  The room was barely big enough for his large frame, let alone with the addition of a stool and a bowl of water.

            Sighing, the Jedi Master dipped his hands in the water and, sensing no toxins, he drank deeply from his cupped hands.  When his thirst was slacked, he gently leaned his head against the cool wall behind him and focused inward to begin the slow process of healing his head and leg.

            "I think he said he was going to West Grid Avenue," Obi-Wan mused thoughtfully.  He and Luke were standing at an intersection of streets that ran perpendicular to each other, staring at the signs.  One said 'North Grid Avenue' and the other 'West Grid Avenue'.

            Luke frowned as he looked at all the homes near them.  "But where at on West Grid Avenue?"

            Obi-Wan concentrated on his memories, using a Jedi enhancing technique to remember more clearly what was said over Qui-Gon's comlink.  "Fifty…fifty-two!"

            Luke scanned the numbers glowing on the sides of the large homes near them.  "Well, we're at the beginning then.  This street must go a long ways if it reaches 52," he commented.  "Any idea who he was going to meet?"

            Starting off in a fast trot, Obi-Wan found Luke met his pace easily.  The younger Jedi shook his head, keeping his sight mostly on the numbers on the houses as they passed them.  "No.  They just said there was a dispute that needed settling.  That's what we're here for so he left and made me stay with you for when you woke up.  Since you're a strong Jedi, I think Master Qui-Gon is afraid that with you sliding back into adolescence you'll lose your temper…and your control of the Force."

            Luke frowned as he scanned the opposite side of the street.  "He said that?"

            Feeling a surge in the Force, he quickly glanced at the younger Ben.  

            "Not exactly," Obi-Wan admitted.  "But as Master and Padawan, we have a bond through the Force that allows us to communicate quicker with each other and without having to use words.  We can feel each other's presence in the Force and we can tell when something happens to the other.  Didn't we ever establish a bond like that when I trained you?"

            Dryly, Luke answered, "Not really.  We didn't have much time together.  You seemed to teach me the barest of basics that I would need to immediately survive and left everything else out.  I became a warrior with not much room for mediation skills.  I grew close to you as a friend and mentor, but nothing like what you are describing to me now."

            Obi-Wan was silent for a few blocks, then asked, "Don't you do that with your students?  You said you have students, right?"

            Luke nodded, then caught himself because Obi-Wan probably couldn't see his movement as they watched the numbers gradually increase on both sides of the street.  "Yes, I have students, but I have had to train them as I made it up.  I looked for all sorts of clues from former Jedi but the Dark Jedi I spoke of did a good job of eliminating even their knowledge from existing.  I have an academy full of students, and a few failures that have had to be taken care of for the good of the galaxy.  I'm learning through trial and error with no guide; though now I know of this Master-Padawan bond I can look into it."

            "Who is the Dark Jedi?"

            Luke opened his mouth, but a strong prodding of the Force made him close it again.  "That, I sense, I must not tell you."

            Obi-Wan was going to answer when Luke spotted a glowing 52 on a large, three-story home across the street.  "Here," he barked out, striding across the street.

            Obi-Wan focused into the Force but could not tell if his master was near or not.  "Let's just go in and ask them nicely first about what Master Qui-Gon was doing here."

            Luke nodded.  "Best not to accuse them for fear of risking them not telling what they know at all."

            Obi-Wan lifted an eyebrow but didn't comment as the two Jedi approached the door.  As soon as their booted feet hit the doorstep, the door opened to reveal Monaray K'linonan, the other candidate for the kingship, smiling at them.

            "Ah, Jedi!" He boomed, holding out his arms in welcome.  "What are you doing here?  I thought that you would be resting with Master Jinn by now?"

            Obi-Wan frowned.  "When did Master Jinn leave your house, Candidate K'linonan?" He asked.

            Monaray K'linonan glanced quickly at Luke, standing silently in the shadows, before answering.  "Master Jinn left almost an hour ago, Padawan Kenobi.  Is this the mysterious Jedi who arrived in our air space?  I am Monaray K'linonan, a candidate to be king of Tangoria.  And you are?"

            Luke sent a warning to Obi-Wan through the Force as the apprentice Jedi was about to say his name.  Politely, Luke bowed and responded, "My name is not important, Candidate K'linonan.  Finding Master Jinn, though, is.  Do you know where he was heading when he left?"

            His eyes narrowing at Luke's refusal to reveal his name, the big man folded his arms across his chest.     "He didn't tell me but I assumed he was returning to you at the medcenter, Padawan Kenobi.  We had a mysterious caller threaten to destroy my family if I did not back down from the candidacy.  I had a staff member request Master Jinn come to try to identify the caller and after meditating for two hours, he stood and said they were not serious and to continue on my business as usual.  Anything else you need?"

            Obi-Wan shook his head 'no' and began to turn away.

            "Padawan Jedi," K'linonan called after Obi-Wan.  "Why are you asking?  Has something happened to the Jedi Master?"

            Sensing Obi-Wan was preoccupied with trying to locate Qui-Gon in the Force, Luke softly spoke up from the shadows.  "Master Jinn has been missing for nearly an hour now, Candidate K'linonan.  Obi-Wan has felt his distress and is anxious to find him.  If you think of anything else, please contact Doctor Monta at the medcenter."

            Still uncertain how to act around Luke's aloofness, K'linonan nodded.  "Sure," he agreed.  "I hope you find him.  There are some who didn't want the Jedi coming here at all during these important times and I had to use all of my pull to get the majority to agree to letting them arrive."

            Obi-Wan, snapped out of his reverie, turned.  "And who were the ringleaders of the ones who didn't want us coming?"

            K'linonan promptly stated, "Candidate Landon B'runi."


	9. Chapter 9

Qui-Gon felt the distant efforts of his Padawan to find him, joined by Luke's street smarts.  Deep within his healing trance, he could not answer or direct his apprentice to his side, even if he knew exactly where he was.  Moved by the Force, he directed his inner gaze to look toward the future.  

            Unlike as other times when he sought guidance by trying to see near future events, this time the future was fragmented and torn.  Ragged edges of ripped future events swirled past his gaze and began to realign themselves with different outcomes that had been there before.  A central figure in all of those events slowly disappeared, leaving gaping holes and disturbing the flow of time.

            _Wait!  He wanted to shout.  __Don't change yet!  I'll figure out a way to return Luke to the proper time.  I just have to figure out how he got here in the first place._

But the Force, and the future, stops for no one. 

            "He's…near but I can't…" Obi-Wan stopped, frustrated.

            Luke, panting, his sides beginning to ache again, plopped himself down on a public bench on the side of a park.  He and Obi-Wan had been searching, stretched through the Force, the entire West Grid area for any sense of Qui-Gon.

            "Maybe…" Luke winced as a spasm of pain shot through his left leg.  "Maybe he made it safely past this area.  Perhaps we should rest and meditate on it more."

            Obi-Wan looked as though he wanted to argue, but noticed Luke rubbing his leg.  Letting out a deep sigh, he sat beside the black-clad Jedi.  "He's here, Luke.  I just…can't feel him as clearly."

            Luke thought a moment, absent-mindedly still rubbing his leg where it hurt.  "Well, if he's in a healing trance or deep into meditation, won't it be harder to locate him?"

            Obi-Wan nodded.  "Makes sense.  He did say he had injuries."

            They sat together in silence, listening to the night life and feeling the Force pulsate around them.  Luke half-way shut his eyes and let himself glide through the vast regions of the pulsating Force.  Since it seemed as though he was going to become nonexistent, he found his connection to the Force was more tangible.  Reaching out, Luke idly quested in the living Force, feeling the echoes of other beings resonate to him.  And then, he felt a quiver.

            "Ben?" He murmured, not moving and not opening his eyes.

            Obi-Wan glanced at him, puzzled at first at Luke's expression.  Not even bothering to ask, the Padawan sensed where Luke's direction was turned and followed his presence in the Force.  Then, suddenly, he felt that small quiver in the Force as well.

            "Qui-Gon!" He breathed.  Now knowing where to direct his thoughts, he decided to try contacting his master again.

            _Master!_

            Faintly and tinged with incredible pain, Qui-Gon's mental voice responded, _Here, Padawan.  Where are you?_

            Obi-Wan grinned.  _At the end of West Grid Avenue.  Any success at determining where you are?_

            _No, came the reply.  After a slight hesitation, Qui-Gon continued, _Time is running for our friend from the past, Obi-Wan.  Hurry!__

            Biting his lip, Obi-Wan sent his master an affirmative answer.  Turning around, he noticed a faint line of sweat forming on Luke's brow.  "Are you okay?" He asked, knowing already that the Jedi was not.

            Luke waved his concern away and walled himself off in the Force to keep Obi-Wan from detecting the levels of pain he was feeling.  Straightening with difficulty, Luke gave him a tight smile.  "Never better.  Have a better fix on Master Jinn now?"

            To his surprise, Obi-Wan discovered that, instead of Qui-Gon's presence retreating back into a healing trance, his master was as powerful a beacon to find as at any other time.  Closing his eyes briefly, the younger Jedi nodded.  "Follow me.  We're in the opposite direction."

            Hurrying off, Obi-Wan tried not to notice how Luke's footsteps began to drag behind him or how suddenly Luke seemed to be exactly his height


	10. Chapter 10

Qui-Gon had neither seen nor heard from his captors since he had been here in this small, dark cell.  Making painfully slow progress on healing both his concussion and his broken leg, the Jedi Master noticed that the water level in the bowl was the same as when he had sunk into meditation.  Sighing, he bent forward slowly, intending to dip his hands into the water and drink again to try to slack his unending thirst.

            Suddenly, bright light flooded his cell, blinding him after the many hours that his eyes had seen only darkness.  Rough hands lifted him and pushed him onto the stool that he had noticed several hours ago.  Slowly, his eyes began to adjust to make out three forms near him, two male and one female.

            The two men held him against the wall while the woman hurriedly picked up his bowl and left the dingy chamber.  Once the door closed behind her and he was left alone with the men, he decided to try to discover some answers.

            "Who are you?  Why did you take me prisoner?"

            One of the men, a brute by the appearance of him, grunted and punched him hard in the stomach.  Knocking the air out of him, leaving him breathless, the man growled, "You don't ask questions, Jedi.  We do the asking."

            Qui-Gon nodded and forced himself to relax his body into an upright position.  He could be patient and wait the questioning out.  Usually, questioners gave more away in what they wanted to know than the person answering did.

            The second man, with a beard of shockingly white hair, sneered and forced Qui-Gon's head back into the wall.  "Why exactly are you here?"

            Qui-Gon drew on the Force to give him patience not to roll his eyes.  In a strained, even tone, he answered, "I was asked to come and mediate the upcoming crowning to make sure all was done fairly.  I was under the impression, as was the Jedi Council, that all the electees had agreed to the Jedi coming onplanet."         

            The first man drew his fist back and struck Qui-Gon in the jaw.  Qui-Gon had felt the blow coming but with his head pressed against the wall, he couldn't flinch or roll with it.  The rock hard fist cracked his jaw and sent stars of radiating pain shooting into his head and teeth.

            "You give simple answers and no fancy speeches, Jedi!" The brute yelled.

            Qui-Gon felt anger flare up but quickly surpressed it.  Anger would do him no good here.

            "Now," the second man grunted; a malicious twinkle in his eye as he pressed down on Qui-Gon's broken leg.  Qui-Gon, with his fractured jaw, couldn't even grit his teeth to block his shout of pain.  "What's your real reason for being here?"

             "I told you," the Jedi Master gasped out.  "We were invited by…"

            The brute had a particularly nasty look on his face and his skin flushed red from anger.  Practically screaming at the Jedi now, he said, "Sithspit!  You were sent to spy on Candidate B'runi and to pry his secrets out of his mind.  Admit it!"

            Qui-Gon would have laughed had the situation not been so serious.  Despite the pain it caused, he allowed himself to smile.  "No."

            Both of the men glanced at each other, clearly not expecting his answer with his expression.  Slightly confused, the second man just tightened his grip on Qui-Gon as the first man began to rain heavy blows down on every available piece of flesh within his sights.  After twenty minutes of crushing blows, the two men left.

            Qui-Gon, his joints aching from his assault and his leg feeling as if it were crushed meat, slumped off the stool onto his side on the ground in an eerie parody of when he had first woken here.  Trying to concentrate enough on his breathing to focus into the Force, he almost didn't hear the door open.

            As footsteps came near, he didn't flinch or even give the slightest inclination that he was aware of the other person's approach.  The steps paused near his head and the soft sound of a bowl being placed on the floor near him came to his aching ears.  After the woman's task was done, she stood there for a long time.  Finally, she bent down and smoothed the long pieces of his hair that had stuck to the side of his face during his beating.  In a whisper as soft as the wind, she said, "I believe you, Jedi.  How can I help?"

            In a tone to match hers, still not moving his cramped and bruised body, he answered, "When my Padawan and another Jedi comes, help them.  In that way you can help me."

            Giving no indication that she heard him, the woman stood and once again he was left alone in the darkness of a tiny cell barely big enough for him to stretch out in.

            Luke and Obi-Wan both stopped in front of darkened house on North Grid Street.  In contrast to all the other modest, well-lit homes, this one was a little further off of the street and all the lights were out, even the streetlamps in front of it.

            "No," Obi-Wan said in disbelief.  "No one can be _that _obvious.  Even if I didn't know something had happened a few hours ago, I would still look at this house and think a criminal lurked here."

            Luke smiled, almost tempted to laugh as he squatted down on his shortening legs.  If he hadn't been starting to resemble a teenager, he might have actually chuckled.  Instead, he replied, "Some people try too hard to make others not notice them.  Or, they might be new at this kidnapping Jedi thing."

            Obi-Wan snorted as he reached for his lightsaber, his eyes once again taking on a faraway look.  "He's in there, somewhere," he murmured.  "I can feel his pain…" The apprentice tried not to think of the jolt of fire that had lanced through his jaw no more than twenty minutes ago; an echo of a pain that his master was feeling in full relief.

            Luke simply nodded; knowing that duty now called them to rescue the full grown Jedi.  Standing and trying not to wince at how he was now eye-level with Obi-Wan, he pulled out his own lightsaber.  As soon as his hand closed on the grip, the Force flared around him, alive and ready to give assistance if needed.  He almost gasped; the Force had never been _that easily found to him before.  Pushing aside what that might mean for him, he started walking toward the house._

            "Wait a minute!" Obi-Wan grabbed at his tunic.  "You can't just walk right in there!  Don't you think that they have surveillance cams?"

            Luke shrugged.  "If they're this sloppy on blending in, I really don't think we have much to worry about.  Plus, I know the future and no part of the future of this planet ever involved the death of a Jedi so I don't think we have to worry that much." He started walking away again but called over his shoulder, "Also, Yoda always said I was reckless in my youth."

            Obi-Wan stared after the retreating Jedi for a moment, his mouth open.  Were all Jedi in the future as strange as this one?  And did he actually train him to be this way?  If so, he was going to be a bad Jedi Master in the future.  Pursing his lips, he ran to catch up to Luke as the other Jedi neared the front door.

            "What do you suggest?" Obi-Wan hissed.  "That we knock on the front door?"

            Luke tilted his head to the side for a moment, then shook his head.  "Nope.  We don't have to."

            "What's that supposed to…" He trailed off as the door opened.  Leaping away from Luke to give himself room to fight if necessary, he adjusted his grip on his lightsaber and faced the threat beyond the door.

            A young woman faced them, her green eyes wide but her determination evident in her stance and through the Force.  In a barely audible voice, she asked, "Are you here for the Jedi?"

            Obi-Wan was puzzled and let himself relax slightly.  "Yes.  And you are…?"

            "Someone who wants to let him escape," she answered shortly.  Flicking her eyes back to Luke, she added, "But there are two others who will not."

            Luke glanced at Obi-Wan and the two Jedi raised their lightsabers in salutes.  

            "No problem.  We're ready.  Lead on," Luke told her.


	11. Chapter 11

With all the lights off, the journey through the house did not reveal much.  Blocky shapes of furniture were scattered here and there in rooms off of the main hallway.  Directly at the hallway's end was a door and the woman led them straight to it.

            Obi-Wan kept his senses open and aware as he felt Qui-Gon's presence get nearer to him as they approached the door.  He was sure that this woman was leading them into a trap; what wouldn't be better than having three Jedi instead of one?

            "I sense nothing from her," Luke muttered so low that only Obi-Wan could hear him.

            Obi-Wan started.  The only person who had been able to know exactly what he was thinking since he'd learned how to screen his thoughts was Qui-Gon.  How did Luke seem to know what was in his mind?  On the other hand, how did he himself seem to be able to guess Luke's background when no one else could?

            Shaking his head to clear his thoughts and focus on their mission to rescue Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan saw that they were now in front of the door.  The young woman, around his—and now Luke's—age was hesitating.

            Luke put a gentle hand on her shoulder.  "If you're frightened, then tell us how to find him once we get beyond this door and then go to the medical center.  We'll be heading there after we get through here.  Wait for us there.  Please?"

            She bit her lips as she thought, glancing around them.  Finally, she nodded but said, "I'll lead you there then meet you at the medcenter."

            Luke nodded and smiled.  For a moment, Obi-Wan thought he saw someone else in that look, but the moment passed and they were going down narrow stairs.  At the bottom, the woman motioned them to halt.  Moving on without them, they heard other footsteps approach her.

            "What are you doing down here?" A gruff voice barked.  

            "Checking on the Jedi's water," the woman's voice floated back to them.

            A pause.  Then, "He doesn't need any.  Go back upstairs until you're called for."

            Luke straightened and narrowed his eyes, suddenly seeming to Obi-Wan the image of every Jedi Master that he had met before who had gone into battle.  Hardly giving Obi-Wan time in the Force to prepare to follow, Luke jumped out of the stairway.

            As Obi-Wan landed in the narrow hall beside and slightly behind the black-clad Jedi, he noticed a bearded man shove the young woman into the only other door off the hall.  She hit the door so hard that it pushed inward a few centimeters to reveal the edge of a booted foot.

            "So, more Jedi coming to spy, huh?" The bearded man growled.  He cracked his knuckles.  "I'll show you a thing or two.  C'mon!"

            Luke gave neither the man nor Obi-Wan warning as he flipped upward toward the ceiling, lighting his lightsaber as he went.  Stomping down on his urge to roll his eyes, Obi-Wan reminded himself that Luke probably wasn't used to fighting with another Jedi on his side.  Flooding himself with the Force, he purposefully nudged Luke to show him what he wanted him to do.

            To his relief, Luke responded by opening the walls into his mind so Obi-Wan could move in better defense and offense positions set up by the battle-hardened Jedi.  No stranger to dueling was Luke, Obi-Wan could tell.

            Working well as a team, Obi-Wan feinted at the bearded man time and again, giving Luke time to duck furious fists and daring kicks made by the saberless man.  Luke fought back with a strange intensity that was akin to fury, but lacked the anger behind it.  Obi-Wan had never seen a Jedi successfully be able to fight that way before without accessing the dark side of the Force.  Keeping one part of his mind open to learn from Luke, he used most of his attention to distract the vastly outnumbered man.

            Very soon, the man was finally knocked unconscious by a swinging sidekick that Luke had been able to sneak in while Obi-Wan had been teasing the man with fake lightsaber thrusts.  Standing over the man, Obi-Wan found himself very impressed with Luke's fighting skills.  

            "Wow," he commented shortly.

            Luke shrugged and powered down his green saber.  "It's nothing."  Turning away, he bent down to help the fallen woman to her feet.  She was slowly regaining her wits after her hard smack into the door.  "Why don't you go ahead and meet us at the medcenter?" Luke suggested.

            She nodded and staggered toward the stairs.  Luke watched her go, a frown on his face.

            "Something the matter?" Obi-Wan asked, wondering if he should go after the woman.

            Luke visibly shook himself.  "No…I just felt…Never mind.  I imagine we will find Qui-Gon in here." He gestured to the darkened chamber and leaned against the wall.

            All thoughts of Luke and the woman were pushed from Obi-Wan's mind as he rushed inside to find his Master, bleeding and groggy, on the other side in the room beyond the door.  Qui-Gon's knee was a bloody mess and the side of his head didn't look much better but the Jedi Master quickly came to when Obi-Wan gently touched him on the shoulder.

            "You finally made it, Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon remarked.  "I was beginning to wonder if I should worry."

            Obi-Wan grinned and bent down to prop Qui-Gon up.  "Oh, you know me, Master—always out chasing the pathetic lifeforms away.  How do you feel?  Can you stand?"

            In answer, Qui-Gon focused the Force to shunt away all feeling from his broken leg and let Obi-Wan help him to his feet.  Sweat immediately popped out on his brow and he found that he had to lean heavily on Obi-Wan.

            Needing to rest a moment from the effort of standing, Qui-Gon said, "I assume Luke is with you; he seems to have finally found a way to block me from sensing him when he doesn't want me to."

            "Yes, Master," Obi-Wan replied.  "I'm amazed at his fighting skills.  I never would have thought by looking at him and spending time with him that he could fight so intensely without being aggressive.  It's…amazing, Master."

            Qui-Gon took a step forward, coming just one step away from the doorway and had to rest again.  Puzzled, he glanced at his Padawan.  "So, where is he?"

            Now Obi-Wan seemed puzzled.  "He was right outside the door and I came in to see about you.  I guess he didn't follow me in." _Like there is room for three in here,_ he added to himself.  "Maybe he decided to keep an eye on the guy we had to get through to get to you."

            But when Master and Padawan had finally made their way to the door, they stood in shock at what they saw beyond it.  The bearded man was still out cold and snoring sounds came from where he lay, but beside him…Instead of an older teenage Luke that Obi-Wan had been with all day, there was now a sixteen-year-old Luke sitting down on the floor, panting from pain.

            Obi-Wan's mouth hung open in shock.  "Luke?  Are you alright?"

            Luke grimaced.  "In a matter of speaking.  How are you, Qui-Gon?" When he spoke, his voice was still the same deep and mature tone that he had had when they all first spoke in the medcenter but it was with a much younger man's face and frighteningly intense ice-blue eyes.  

            Qui-Gon met the now much younger man's cloudy gaze with his own.  "Better if we can get out of here.  Did you two happen to take care of the other man as well?"

            "Other man, Master?" Obi-Wan inquired.  "We saw only this one."

            With a sudden burst of energy that startled both Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon, Luke shot to his feet (now a couple of inches shorter than Obi-Wan).  His face pointed upward at the ceiling, his brow furrowed as he concentrated.  After a moment, with absolute certainty, he pointed to a spot vaguely to the right of the stairway.  "He's there."

            "Then we better get moving," Qui-Gon forced out through gritted teeth.  Ignoring the spasms of pain that shot through the frayed bone into his body with every step, the trio slowly made their way to the stairs with Luke acting as point.

            Luke bounded up the stairs with youthful abandon and quickly disappeared above.  Achingly one step at a time, Qui-Gon took triple the time Luke did, even with Obi-Wan lending him some of his own pain suppression skills.

            By the time they made it to the door, they saw Luke standing with his back to them, feet planted shoulder-length apart, his lightsaber lit.  It didn't take them long to figure out why: the brutish man stood, blocking their way from the front door. 

            "It's okay," Luke called over his shoulder, his eyes glinting.  "I've got this covered."

            Qui-Gon raised his eyebrows but did not comment as the brute waved at Luke, taunting him.  At first, it didn't seem that Luke was going to move at all: not a single muscle flinched.  But then, in a blink of an eye, Luke was running sideways at the brute.  Catching him unaware, Luke leaped on the wall and ran up it a few steps before twisting in the air to land behind the brute.  The growling man was just beginning to turn around when Luke's spinning kick caught him in the groin.  Falling heavily to his knees, the man glared up at Luke with pure hatred in his eyes.  Pretending to grab at himself, the brute brought out of his hand a concealed tiny blaster and aimed at where Luke had been just a split second ago.  Now Luke was just a fraction over from his previous position—just enough for the man to miss.  Sweeping his lightsaber down in an arc that would clearly sever the man's head, Luke thumbed off the blade at the last possible second so that the butt of his handle smacked hard into the brute's head and he slumped, unconscious, on the ground.

            Luke glanced up at the two Jedi, breathing heavily.  "I told you I had it covered."

            Obi-Wan cast him a quizzical look.  "Why didn't you just kill him?  You were in your right; it was self-defense."

            Looking extremely tired and drained, Luke put his lightsaber back on his belt.  "I've never liked to kill when I didn't have to."

            "Good philosophy.  You seemed to learn more from the Jedi of old than you realize.  Your teacher obviously taught you well," Qui-Gon remarked without looking at Obi-Wan.  "You should be proud of what you know and what you have accomplished by yourself."

            Luke met the Jedi Master's eyes and nodded, his blue eyes betraying his true age in the depth.  "Thank you, Master Jinn." He bowed.  When he had straightened, he grinned, seeming impish.  "Shall we go?  Our 'friend' here was nice enough to leave us a landspeeder."

            Nodding, Qui-Gon let Obi-Wan assist him all the way outside to the sleek landspeeder.


	12. Chapter 12

"Well, mending perfectly well, Master Jinn; perfectly!" Doctor Monta gleefully reported the next morning in the medcenter.  When the three Jedi had arrived, the doctor had made them all drink sleeping draughts as he mended Qui-Gon so they could all get the sleep they needed.  Not accustomed to being made to drink a drug-laced drink to catch some good sleep, all of the Jedi had been snoring within minutes.     

            Qui-Gon smiled slightly at the round little doctor's enthusiasm but refrained from saying anything other than, "So did the bacta tank heal it solidly enough for me to walk on it right now?"      

            Doctor Monta nodded eagerly.  "Yes, yes but you still will need one more dip in the tank, Master Jinn, to avoid further complications.  Take it easy and don't leave this medical center again until you've taken that dive in the tank, eh?  I'll let your apprentice in to see you now.  He's been awake two hours longer than you and has been very persistent to come in, very persistent."       

            Obi-Wan practically burst through the recovery room door as the doctor left the room, grinning from ear to ear.  "Master!  How good to see you looking so well today!"

            "Yes," Qui-Gon dryly commented, experimentally lifting and bending his knee on the bed.  "So the doctor was just telling me.  How are you feeling today?"

            "Great!" Was the automatic reply, but Qui-Gon sensed that something was troubling him.  Raising a bushy eyebrow, he prompted a sheepish, "Well, maybe not all that great, Master.  It has to do with Luke."

            "Oh?"

            Obi-Wan's grin now had faded completely and his face was earnest.  "Master, I can't feel him at all anymore.  I used to have those strange reactions whenever we were close together but now it's as if he's not even in the Force."

            "Where is he now?" Qui-Gon inquired.  "Have you seen him at all this morning?"

            Obi-Wan shook his head.  "No, Master.  He was in the other recovery room next to yours but the doctor won't let me in.  I was too concerned about your condition to really think about why."

            Gently swinging his long legs over the edge of the bed and gingerly testing his weight on his mostly-healed leg, Qui-Gon glanced at his Padawan.  "Then we'd better go see about our 'future' guest, shouldn't we?"

            "Yes, Master."

            With Obi-Wan following him, the older Jedi emerged into the main room that housed the bacta tank and found himself staring at a grim Doctor Monta.  The little man had his arms folded over his chest and looked as impassable as a stone wall.

            "I'm afraid I know what you want, Master Jinn, and I cannot allow you in there," the doctor stated resolutely.

            Slightly taken aback, Qui-Gon blinked but said calmly, "Doctor, we have to figure out how much time we have to get him back to his era.  We need to see him to discuss exact details of this explosion he was in so we can try to recreate it."

            The doctor thought for a moment, sized up his and Obi-Wan's determined looks, and then sighed as he unfolded his arms.  "There's not much time, I'm afraid, Jedi.  There won't be much talking, do you understand?  Please don't tire him out too much." With that last warning, Doctor Monta crossed to the other recovery room's door, unlocked it with a specific passcode and opened the door to let them enter the dimly lit room.

            When Qui-Gon saw Luke, he silently agreed that there indeed was no time left for the Jedi from the future.  Luke was now the height of a ten-year-old and was currently breathing with the help of a strange-looking breathing apparatus that also monitored his heartbeat.  His heart was functioning erratically, pausing in-between beeps every once in a while.

            "Oh no…" He heard Obi-Wan breathe from behind him.

            Very softly, Qui-Gon called out Luke's name while focusing the Force into his call to reach the Jedi on the other plane of existence that he dwelled in.  For a few moments, nothing happened except the silent watchfulness of the doctor pressing in on the Jedi.

            With a rapid surge in heartbeat, Luke opened his eyes, still the ice-blue of his maturity.  Taking the mask off of his face, he propped himself up on one elbow gently.  "Yes?" He asked, his deep voice sounding eerie in the ten-year-old body.

            "While you are with us, please state again what happened before you woke in the bacta tank in our time era," Qui-Gon requested, keeping his voice soft only for the benefit of the jumpy doctor.

            Luke frowned.  "I was tracking pirates and there was an explosion.  One of the pirates stated something about an exploding gas and also said that it was a 'special cargo'.  I don't know what kind of gas it could have been."

            Obi-Wan's eyes were wide as he turned to Qui-Gon.  "Master, if the gas caused the explosion to be massive enough to rent time itself…" He trailed off, his excitement growing, his mind churning with the very few possibilities.

            Qui-Gon sensed where his Padawan's thoughts were running through their bond and a smile began to blossom on his face as well.  Turning to Luke, he said, "There are two gases that are explosive that would also be considered 'special cargo' to pirates and smugglers, at least in our time.  Nibenna and Clanoric.  Nibenna is an odorless, tasteless gas that is highly explosive.  When impacted with proton torpedoes or even blasters, it has the ability to level five city blocks and more.  Clanoric is the same, but is slightly less explosive and burns brightly when fired at.  Which do you think this could be?"

            Closing his eyes tightly to allow himself to focus more deeply into the Force, Luke pondered for a moment.  When the Force prompted him, he answered with every certainty, "Nibenna."

            Exchanging looks between themselves, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan nodded.  "We can get that," they said together, smiling.

            "NO!  No, no, no, no, no!  You are _not_ taking my patient out of here at this critical time and simulating a blast that could very well kill him!  No!  I forbid it!" Doctor Monta exclaimed, waving his pudgy arms in the air like a windmill.

            "But I don't," came a tired voice from behind him.  Turning around, the doctor saw the rapidly shrinking Luke being supported by Obi-Wan Kenobi as they exited the recovery room.  "Doc, I have to try.  I don't belong here and I'm messing things up while I'm here.  Even if this kills me, I'm going to die anyway slowly and painfully as my body shrinks into nothing.  Truth be told, I'd rather die in one single blast of battle than just simply becoming nothing." Luke smiled a little from his now three-foot height.

            Doctor Monta dropped his arms and looked a little deflated as he saw Luke's resolve.  Pondering the strangeness of the galaxy for a moment, the doctor let out an exasperated sigh.  "Are all Jedi stubborn?"

            Obi-Wan forced a smile.  "Most of us."  Now that it was time for Luke to leave, Obi-Wan found that he had millions of unasked questions about the future that he wanted to ask.  Now he would not have a chance to talk to Luke without his master's constant presence.  A source full of the unspeakable, changing future right here, leaning on him, and now they were going to attempt to blow him up to get him back to where he belonged.  Life was full of ironies.

            The doctor followed Obi-Wan and Luke outside to where Qui-Gon waited with a borrowed landspeeder.  Inside the landspeeder also sat the woman from the house where Obi-Wan and Luke had found Qui-Gon the night before and a man with a strong jaw line and flaming red hair.

            As Luke was helped into the back of the landspeeder by the woman and man, Obi-Wan leaned over the driver's side to talk to his master.  "Who is the man?"

            Qui-Gon smiled.  "He's a jumpy sort, Padawan.  He'll only give me his last name and that is a strange one.  He wants me to call him Jade.  The woman still won't reveal a first or last name to me.  She says all I need to know is that she's the man's girlfriend.  I think they've been so long on the opposite side of the law from Jedi that having three of us in one place has them rather scared out of their wits." He chuckled at the situation.

            Luke suddenly beamed, listening as he was to their conversation.  "Jade, was it?" He asked the man.

            Instantly suspicious, the man sank backwards into the seat beside Luke.  He eyed the short, child-like Jedi.  "Yeah.  Why?"

            Luke laughed, a genuine belly laugh that left him breathless for a moment.  When he was able to talk again, he choked out, "No reason I can tell you."

            Obi-Wan rolled his eyes.  It must be something with the future that dealt with this couple.  No wonder Luke had seemed to have a strange perplexity when he had met the woman.

            The doctor was wringing his hands.  "I still don't like this; don't like this at all but if you're determined then I wish you luck, Master Skywalker.  I suggest you hurry, though, before the process is irreversible."

            Qui-Gon nodded.  "We will return, Doctor Monta, after the process to let you know how it worked." So saying, the elder Jedi quickly set off for the spaceport to where the ship he and Obi-Wan had come in on still was berthed with Luke's ship inside it.  The pilot had decided to take a vacation while he could.

            Obi-Wan, in the front passenger seat, turned around to face Luke.  "What's your ship called?  How fast can it go?  Does it have hyperdrive?  How many engines?  Does it fit an artoo unit or something else?"

            Qui-Gon could not help himself from laughing at his apprentice's barrage of questions.  "Obi-Wan…" He started to try to rebuke as he steered into the main city area.

            Luke, the size of a six-year-old, held up a hand to show Qui-Gon he didn't mind.  Smiling as he remembered his own love of anything that flew when he was younger and stuck on Tatooine, he could understand Obi-Wan's questions.  He bet Obi-Wan had been waiting to ask him the entire time they had accidentally met, but Qui-Gon's capture had stalled their conversation.

            "It's called an X-wing because of the way it looks with its wings separated in battle.  Yes, it has hyperdrive; it can go point four past lightspeed now that Han has worked on it—never mind, someone I met after I met you in the future; it has two engines and it does fit an artoo unit.  In fact, I recall that I triggered Artoo to escape right before the blast caught up with me.  I wonder if he made it outside the blast area…" He trailed off as emotions overtook him.  He missed his sister and friends, and especially Mara.  Sitting beside her parents made him ache to hold her again in his arms.  If this recreation didn't work…

            Sobering, he rode the rest of the way to the landing bays in silence.  The other Jedi sensed his mood and left him alone, Obi-Wan smothering his many questions to give him space.  Wincing as a stomach spasm hit him, he squeezed his eyes shut briefly.  The spasms all over his body were getting more frequent.  Usually, after a bad spell of spasms, he'll find that he had shrunk another inch or so.  If this kept up, he wouldn't make it into his X-wing.

            The landspeeder jolted to a halt, forcing his eyes open again.  To his surprise, they were directly in front of a landing bay already.  The landing bays he knew of Tangoria stretched for hundreds of kilometers in either direction of the city.  Obviously, that build up of the planet must happen further in the future.

            Qui-Gon bent down to pick Luke up.  Luke wanted to protest but he seriously suspected his legs, shortened as they were, would not hold his weight.

            Mara's mother and father were standing, looking all around them at the ships, trying to find the closest one off-planet.  Finding one three bays down, the couple linked arms after giving the Jedi short waves, and rushed off to try to buy passage.  Seeing them retreat down the dusty road made Luke even sadder.

            "Come on," Qui-Gon said softly.  "It's time to return you to where you need to go." 

            The three Jedi entered the landing bay where the medium-sized transport waited, the dull lights gleaming off the polish of the ship.  Since Luke had been unconscious and half-dead when they had all been here that first day, Luke soaked up the sights of the past models of the modern transports he flew occasionally now.  Not much was different, actually.

            When Luke saw the condition of his X-wing, still slanted sideways in the bay of the transport, he groaned out loud.  "Let me down, please," he commanded in despair, his eyes absorbing the extent of the damage.  Qui-Gon complied without a word and stood beside Obi-Wan as Luke forced his legs to take him closer to the ship that he had had since he joined the Rebellion.

            Running a hand along the scorch marks all over the once-sleek nose of his ship, he wanted to cry—an absurd thing for an aged Jedi to do over a mechanical.  Only by seeing the damage to the X-wing did he for the first time fully see how close he had been to joining his father and Ben in the Force.

            Ben…

            He turned back to face the young Obi-Wan.  The thought of Ben's spirit and his death predominately in his mind made him dizzy as he faced the living, younger version of Ben.  He almost fell as his leg chose just then to spasm so he sat down heavily, the borrowed robe of Obi-Wan's pooling around and under him.

            Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon approached him slowly, seeming like two brown-robed ghosts coming to finally take him to his final peace.  Sighing, Luke allowed Qui-Gon to once again pick him up and to place him in his cockpit—which was extremely big to him now.  He could barely see over the front controls.  

            He reached out to toggle the switch that would close the cockpit canopy, his sleeve hanging well over the end of his fingers, but found he was several inches too short to reach it.  Frowning slightly, he focused into the Force and flipped the switch, just to see if the canopy would lower to protect him from the atmosphere and airlessness of space.  Once he was satisfied that the canopy hadn't been too damaged in the first explosion, he once again flipped the switch to retract the canopy.

            "Satisfied?" An amused Obi-Wan called up to him.

            Luke grinned.  "Let's get this show on the road," he yelled back.

            Qui-Gon gestured to a few extremely large barrels that had bright red tape drawn across them.  "There's the Nibenna.  We'll let you get out in front of the barrels and then use torpedoes on them, just like the first time.  Our job is to observe and, if needed, try to rescue you if this doesn't work."

            Luke nodded.  "I don't know how fast she can go, but I suggest you hang well back so that we don't have a reverse situation on our hands, Master Jinn."

            Qui-Gon gave Luke a small nod of his own.  The two Jedi stared at each other for a moment, past and future, seeing what the Force had allowed them to see through a trick of time being rent.  

            Finally, Luke turned his attention to Obi-Wan.  "You never mention Master Jinn to me, Ben," he informed the youth.  "You told me Yoda was your teacher.  Care to explain that before I go?"

            Obi-Wan seemed really confused.  "How am I supposed to know what I say in the future and why I say it?" He asked.

            Luke shrugged.  "Just wondered.  I…" He broke off as a powerful spasm shook him all over his body, making his body jump and twitch.  After a few moments, it passed but he noticed that he could no longer see the two Jedi over the top of the side of his cockpit.  "Perhaps we should hurry," he called out.

            "Padawan, stay here until we reach space, just in case he needs something," Luke heard Qui-Gon telling Obi-Wan.  Obi-Wan agreed and footsteps echoed and retreated toward the cockpit.

            A faint thrum and the transport was into the atmosphere shortly after warming up.  Luke sat silently and patiently in his cockpit, letting thoughts mix with memories to pass the time.  He tried to suppress the spasms but he really had no control over them as they reached a new intensity.  By the time he heard Obi-Wan call up to him to watch out as his helmet soared into his lap, he was the size of a three-year-old and felt exhausted.

            "Luke!" 

            Lifting his head with great effort, he saw that Obi-Wan was perched on the nose of the X-wing, staring at him with great concern.  "Luke, we're ready.  Can you hold on long enough?"

            Too physically drained to nod, Luke sent a tired agreement through Force as he blinked slowly.  Obi-Wan hesitated for a fraction of a second and then jumped out of Luke's sight.

            "Master, hurry!" He heard Obi-Wan shout.  A few seconds later, he also heard Obi-Wan grunt as if in pain.  Mere moments afterwards, Luke felt another spasm hit but he was mostly detached from any emotion now.

            Qui-Gon ran into the cargo bay of the transport right after he felt Obi-Wan's mental shock of anguish.  He had put the transport on standby for the moment already, intending on jettisoning the gas into space where he estimated they had first seen the time rent when Obi-Wan had sent his wordless cry.

            Skidding to a halt, Qui-Gon saw that Luke was slumped, semi-conscious and now the size of a two-year-old, in the cockpit of his X-wing and Obi-Wan was lying in a heap near the landing skid of the ship.  Kneeling beside his apprentice, Qui-Gon cradled Obi-Wan's head in his lap.

            "Padawan, do you hear me?  Obi-Wan, talk to me," he urgently insisted, not completely understanding what was happening but not liking his suspicions.

             Obi-Wan groaned and his eyelids fluttered.  "Master…" He panted heavily. "My head…have to get Luke out of here…hurry…Leave me, Master."

            Qui-Gon obeyed without comment, sensing in the Force that Luke's time was critical and no more time could be spared.  Running to the cockpit of the X-wing, he jumped to reach the canopy switch to lower it as he slapped at it, and then landed on his feet in a crouch.  Sprinting back to his moaning Padawan, Qui-Gon scoped him up in his arms and, without breaking his speed, rushed into the adjoining corridor that led to the cargo bay.  

With the distance from Luke, Obi-Wan seemed to regain some of his senses and the pain in his head lessened somewhat, though a strange pressure still remained.  Leaning heavily against the wall, he watched the door to the cargo bay close at the same time the canopy to the X-wing sealed its occupant inside the cockpit of the small fighter.  He watched dully as Qui-Gon worked the controls next to the door to release the field that kept the oxygen from leaking out into space.  Staggering to the door to lean on it to watch through its window, Obi-Wan saw the barrels of gas float alongside the X-wing into the darkness of space.  Once all barrels and the X-wing had cleared where the field would normally be, Qui-Gon reinstated the field and lightly touched Obi-Wan's arm.

"Come on, Padawan.  Let's help Luke return to his time."

            Making their way into the spacious cockpit of the transport, both Jedi Master and Padawan watched as the X-wing drifted, its power still off, past their starboard side.  Qui-Gon motioned that Obi-Wan should attempt to communicate with Luke through the comm as the Jedi Master focused on slowly maneuvered their ship away from the free-floating barrels of highly explosive Nibenna gas.  

            Trying to concentrate past the pressure on his brain, Obi-Wan toggled the appropriate switch.  "Luke?" He called.  "Luke, respond.  Luke?"

            After a few moments, a very groggy-sounding Luke cleared his throat through the comm and rasped, "Here, Ben."

            Obi-Wan lightly shook his head at the obviously familiar nickname he had given to Luke to call him in the future and replied, "Can you start your X-wing?  You don't need to be directly in the focused blast, just the shockwave.  We need you to get powered up." He didn't add an admonition about the time passing—Luke more than any one of them was aware of that fact. 

            To Obi-Wan's anxious eyes, it seemed as if it took Luke forever to get the X-wing powered up as much as it could, crippled as it was from the first blast.  Briefly, he wondered if they should have tried to fix the X-wing some with what they had available to improve Luke's chances of survival providing this insane chance worked.  Too late now, he supposed.

            The running lights on the X-wing flickered but stayed on as Qui-Gon silently continued to move them away from the mass explosion that was to come.  Obi-Wan felt a strange sort of sadness as he watched the X-wing grow smaller in their viewport.  This was a part of his future that he was trying to save, though he did not fully understand the particulars of it.

            "It's for the best, Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon softly remarked, in tune to his emotions as closely as ever.  Obi-Wan nodded at the Jedi Master.  After another moment of drifting away, Qui-Gon added, "It's time."

            Taking a deep breath, Obi-Wan unconsciously leaned forward to stare at the speck of the X-wing in front of him.  "Luke?  Time to go."

            Luke's voice was frayed and cracked when he answered.  "Could you feed me the coordinates of the barrels since I can't see them myself and the X-wing isn't targeting correctly?"

            "Coming up," Qui-Gon answered, punching in commands on the console.  "Feeding…"

            "Got them," was the answer.  After a short pause, Luke said, "I appreciate all that you have done for me, Master Jinn.  If this doesn't work…well, I appreciate all of your efforts.

            "Obi-Wan…Ben?"

            Obi-Wan found a lump in his throat prevented him from speaking so all he did was grunt.

            "It was nice to meet you before…It was nice to get to know you a little better.  The Force does strange things to compensate for future events," Luke said, his voice sounding weaker with each word.

            Obi-Wan smiled a little.  "I am very pleased to meet you, too, Master Skywalker," he responded formally, sensing somehow that formality was needed now at their parting of the ways.  "Now, will you please shoot those barrels before it's too late?"

            Luke chuckled.  "Yes, sir.  Have a nice life."

            Obi-Wan followed the X-wing with his eyes as it swung around on the heading that Qui-Gon had given it.  Two bright spots of fire shot out on each side of the X-wing's nose and sped toward the grouped barrels.  The darkness of space was interrupted with an intense light as the gas exploded soundlessly and expanded.  

            In the light of the initial explosion, Obi-Wan had momentarily lost sight of the X-wing.  Now he frantically searched for it as the shockwave of the explosion began to speed toward where it had been.  He shouldn't have worried; the X-wing was moving as fast as possible in its damaged condition in the direction opposite the core of the explosion.  Moving swiftly, the shockwave caught up to and engulfed the X-wing.  Another few moments passed before the light died and the gas had run out of heat.  In the absence of light, there was no trace of the X-wing or of debris.

            Obi-Wan turned to Qui-Gon, unaware that tears coursed down his face or that the pressure on his brain was gone as if it had never been.  Forcing a smile, he commented, "Not exactly something the Jedi Council will believe, Master."

            Qui-Gon returned his smile.  "No, Padawan." His gaze returned to where Luke's X-wing had been.  Very quietly, he repeated, "No, not at all."


	13. Chapter 13

In a flash of space and time, Leia Organa Solo and Mara Jade stood, open-mouthed and silent, as the explosion engulfed Luke's X-wing right after Artoo was ejected.  Leia's heart ached and she immediately began to stretch out with her feelings to find her twin brother in the all-encompassing light of ignited gas from the pirate's ship.  For a moment, it seemed as if Luke was completely gone, his presence disappeared from the Force, as if in death.

            "Leia…" She heard Mara whisper, a world of emotions in the woman's tone.  Force-sensitive like her but more trained, Mara had already felt the same thing Leia was straining to achieve.

            Leia swallowed, tears forming in her eyes.  Emotion washing over her, she started to turn her little ship, _Alderaan, back into the fleeing formation from the smaller pirate ships.  _

            Then a hitch, almost like a Force hiccup, and suddenly she could feel Luke again.  He was weak, exhausted and in terrible pain, but he was there again.

            "Go!" Mara shouted at her in the co-pilot's seat but Leia had already accelerated toward her brother's battered X-wing.  In mere moments, her little ship had reached where the gas was slowly cooling from its explosion and where Luke's ship floated, all the power down.

            "Skywalker!" Mara was shouting in to the comm unit.  "Luke!  Answer me!"

            Leia set up a tractor beam to drag her brother's ship with her to the surface of the planet since her cargo bay was too small to house the crippled X-wing.  While she was at it, as she passed Artoo she briefly opened her cargo bay to let the little droid drift himself in.  Meanwhile, Mara called and called for Luke the entire way to the safety of the atmosphere of Tangoria but his comm was either too damaged to be used or he was injured beyond the ability to answer.  Both possibilities kept Leia's stomach in knots until she was able to power down _Alderaan and follow Mara out to Luke's X-wing at a dead run._

            Mara had leaped onto the scorched X-wing's wing and was pounding a fist against the canopy, frustrated that the manual emergency lever on the outside was not working.  From Leia's position on the ground, she could not see her brother or anything else in the cockpit but Mara's franticness did nothing to calm her own fears.

            Finally, with a great heave half through the Force and half physical strength, Mara succeeded on prying the canopy up so that she could launch herself at whatever she found while Leia waited with a calm detachment, ready to burst into tears from either joy or loss.  Mara was mumbling something to Luke inside the cockpit and the top half of her body disappeared as she leaned further in.  Leia felt a surge from the usually implacable woman through the Force mere seconds before Mara reemerged, completely supporting an unconscious Luke.  Leia was surprised to see a white bandage on his head already and assumed that Mara had quickly placed the bacta bandage on Luke's head from his first aid kit that all pilots kept under their seats.

            "Don't just stand there," Mara grunted.  "Help me lift him down."

            Chagrined, Leia stretched out her hand to help herself focus as she and Mara together used the Force to gently lower Luke to the ground beside her.  As soon as he was prone on the dry grass, Leia knelt beside him.

            "Luke!" She gasped, taking in the torn patch on his right knee and confused at seeing perfectly healed skin there.  Her eyes roamed over him and found numerous other cuts and abrasions from being bounced around in the cockpit during the explosion and one really nasty and deep furrow in his right arm that went all the way into his mechanical hand.  "Luke, talk to me!"

            Mara landed softly beside her.  "It's no use.  I tried every trick I know and he won't come around.  He needs medical attention."

            Just then, as if summoned by her words, a rather large man in a white lab coat and two assistants came running up to them.  A parked landspeeder hovered not too far away from Leia's ship, indicating how they had gotten to them so quickly.

            "Quick," the man panted.  "Let's get him to the medcenter.  Boris and L'atha, get him on the repulsorsled and take him in the landspeeder then Boris can come back for us as L'atha begins to diagnose Master Skywalker's condition."

            Leia frowned.  "How did you…"

            The obvious doctor started barking more orders, cutting Leia off.  She and Mara both exchanged a glance.  No one knew Luke was going to be in-system except a few of the High Counselors.  How did this doctor know?

            As soon as Luke was whisked away by the two assistants, Leia asked the doctor, "Sir, who are you and how did you know my brother was here?" Mara glowered at her side, a silent and more potent threat.

            The doctor wiped sweat from his brow, his dark hair thinning into a bald spot.  Blinking, he sighed.  "You won't believe me when I explain."

            Mara crossed her arms.  "Try us."

            The doctor appraised her but didn't seem intimidated.  Shrugging, he answered, "My name is Bronton Monta.  My family's been on this planet for generations, ever since the first settlers came here.  All the males in my family have been interested in medicine." Now he stared right at the two women.  "Almost thirty years ago, a mysterious explosion occurred briefly in the space above Tangoria.  It was never explained.  Two Jedi were here to help the first election of our king run smoothly and they discovered, quite by accident, a man dressed in black from the future who was also a Jedi.  Somehow, the explosion created a rip in time and Master Skywalker ended up in Tangoria's past.  My father was the Chief Physician at that time and treated him for a badly injured knee, head injury and other minor cuts and scrapes.  It wasn't too long and he discovered that time was correcting itself and the Jedi Master was slowly being reduced to nothing."

            Mara frowned.  "'Slowly being reduced to nothing'?" She repeated.  "Care to explain that?" Leia nodded her own agreement to Mara's question.

            Very carefully, as best as he knew how, Doctor Bronton Monta explained his father's theory that had been proving itself true until Luke left the past.  His father had left notes that had been passed down to him when he had taken over as Chief Physician on Tangoria.  Leia and Mara both listened in ever-growing shock as they heard about how Luke's body had been shrinking down to nothing.

            "And so the two Jedi re-created the explosion and Master Skywalker disappeared as mysteriously as he came.  My father wrote down the day he left and predicted which day he would arrive—the day that all this would happen," Doctor Monta finished.

            The landspeeder cruised to a stop beside them, preventing the two women from commenting as they were ushered into the back.  The ride to the medical center was a very quiet one as everyone was lost in their own thoughts.

            L'asha met them at the medcenter's double doors.  Ignoring everyone but the doctor, the Twi'lek woman started spouting technical medical terms.  The only thing Leia caught that she understood was that Luke's injuries were not serious enough to make him unconscious—something else had to be keeping him that way.

            Leia and Mara hung back as the doctor and his assistants began trying to find a way to wake Luke.  By mutual consent, the women decided to talk as the doctors tried conventional methods on a Jedi.

            "So, do you believe all this past and future talk?" Mara murmured, her eyes on Luke's prone form.

            Leia shrugged slightly.  "It could be true.  We did lose him in the Force for a moment, right at the apex of the explosion.  That could have been when he traveled through time.  Stranger things have happened to Jedi and especially to Luke.  Remember when his spirit was trapped in the Jedi temple by Exar Kun?  It's hard to believe, but I think it's definitely possible."

              Mara was silent a moment before she spoke next.  "If this is true, then I have a theory; actually, a memory from something Palpatine said a long time ago that I dismissed at the time.  If a Jedi had been able to travel in time, then the Force would work to correct the mistake.  If the Jedi had been there too long, then there could be damage to the Force and to the Jedi."

            "Any specifics to the term 'damage'?" Leia inquired.

            Mara shook her head.  "Palpatine wanted to try it but was never able to find the time—which was probably a good thing for the future in all.  I have no idea but I suspect that it's nothing that conventional doctors can fix."

            Both women became silent and quietly watched, lost in her own thoughts, as the medical staff worked hard on Luke.  Finally, Doctor Monta had Luke ordered in to a bacta tank to heal his cuts, especially the one on his arm.  Before Luke was lowered in to the tank with the mask on his face, Doctor Monta carefully attached a sealed container over Luke's prosthetic hand to keep the bacta from causing any further damage to the exposed wiring.

            Doctor Monta shook his head as he approached them.  "It's a matter of waiting now."

            Mara's lips curled upward in a private smile as she silently acknowledged the doctor.  Ignoring his urgings to leave to get some sleep, the slender red-haired, green-eyed love of Luke's approached the bacta tank as the lights lowered into night mode.  Leia followed her, a prompting in the Force urging her to take part in whatever Mara had in mind.  The doctor simply watched them both and kept his assistants from interfering.

            Mara gazed at the floating Luke before placing her hand on the bacta tank and closing her eyes with Leia copying her movements.  Stretching out through the Force, she called, _Luke, come back to me.  Follow my voice and return to the time you belong.  You made it through the explosion—don't let this keep you from me._

Focused so tightly through the Force was she that she also heard Leia's addition to her call: _Luke, hear me.  I need you.  The children need you.  Without you, the Jedi will fall into darkness.  Come back so you may teach them what you know.  Come back to me._

Mara slightly opened her eyes just enough to tell that there was still no response from Luke.  Frustrated that what she was trying wasn't working, she suddenly remembered the night that he had proposed to her when they had been neck-deep in water with no possible way out of the room they had been in.  The situation then had seemed just as hopeless as this one but he had thought of a way to get them out alive and had set up a key phrase to snap her out of the meditation trance he had had to put her in for her survival.  Smirking, she refocused her mind and returned to him the snap phrase he had said, and meant, a few months back.

            _I love you._

And she meant it with all her heart, mind, and soul.

            A heartbeat later she felt an almost electric shock through the Force that focused around Luke.  Her eyes popped open as she gasped from the jolt of it.  As her eyes focused, she noticed that Luke's ice-blue eyes were staring at her and his hand was pressed against the bacta tank aligned with hers.

            "Get him out!" Doctor Monta was yelling excitedly.  "Quickly!"

            Luke was pulled, dripping bacta, from the tank and he sank down onto the grate to let the excess bacta roll off of him to return to the tub of pink goo.  Leia and Mara waited impatiently for him to be wrapped in a robe and led down the steps to sit on a self-conforming chair near a recovery room.  Exhaustion rolled off of him in waves but the two women beamed at him.

            Very, very quietly, he whispered, "Thank you".  It was evident that he meant them both but his eyes locked with Mara's.

            Gently, Mara asked, "How do you feel?" at the same time Leia asked, "What do you remember?"

            Luke frowned as he searched his memory.  "There was an explosion after I shot the pirate's ship…a rift in time…and two Jedi…" He trailed off, a strange expression halfway between a smile and a puzzled look on his face.

            The doctor, who had come up behind them, inquired, "Who were they?  The Jedi, I mean."       

            Luke tilted his head to the side for a moment.  "I'm not sure if I should say; if it would damage time more.  Perhaps not."  He sighed.  "I got to meet a very young Obi-Wan Kenobi and his Jedi Master, Qui-Gon Jinn."

            Leia looked shocked.  "You met General Kenobi when he was younger?"

            The doctor seemed ecstatic.  "Exactly!  From the notes I received, whenever Master Skywalker and young Kenobi were close to one another, they would experience an odd kind of 'Force-back feed' that caused discomfort.  Do you remember, Master Skywalker?"

            Luke grinned at the doctor, finally erasing the odd haunted look in his eyes.  "You are just like your father, Doctor.  And yes, I remember that." He sobered. "I also remember the feeling of myself being erased into nothingness.  I put myself into a Jedi meditation trance before the pain got so bad that I couldn't think or concentrate.  I evidently either put myself too far into one or else something else happened to me that I can't explain."

            Mara patted his knee.  "We'll explain it to you later, Luke.  Right now, I think we should put you back into the bacta to let that arm of yours heal." She nodded at his arm, which had begun to drip blood again, except for the protected section of his mechanical hand.

            Luke sighed in a resigned way and stood slowly.  "I suppose so.  Lead the way, Doctor."

            "Wait!" Leia said.  She wrapped her arms around her twin brother in a fierce hug.  Whispering, she confided, "I thought I had truly lost you there for a moment.  I'll be here when you wake up."

            Luke nodded and a lock of hair fell into his eyes.  Mara stepped up to him and tenderly brushed it back off of his forehead, her fingertips lightly running over the top edge of the scar on his face that he had received so many years ago from the wampa ice creature on Hoth.  Their eyes met once again and she pulled him into her embrace for a passionate kiss that spoke beyond words of her love and worry for him.  When they parted, both the doctor and Leia were trying hard to look somewhere else to give them a little privacy.  

Mara smiled mischievously.  "Another of that and more where it came from, farmboy, when you are recovered enough," she whispered seductively.

Luke entered the bacta tank, still wearing a slight blush on his cheeks.

            Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn dropped onto his back on the already speeding ship, closing down his lightsaber as he did so.  Dust from Tatooine clung to his sweat-soaked clothes from his fight with the Sith and he took a moment to catch his breath.

            When he looked up, the first thing he noticed was two pairs of eyes with identical concern staring down at him.  Smiling slightly, he gestured with his left hand from one to the other and said, "Obi-Wan Kenobi, meet Anakin Skywalker."

            Obi-Wan Kenobi, in his twenties, stretched out a hand to shake with the eight-year-old sandy-haired young boy in slave's clothes.  As their hands met, he felt a sudden sense of clarity from his past and he remembered Luke Skywalker's face as clearly as if the Jedi had been standing before him.

            In a split second, he compared the two and noticed the remarkable resemblance—along with the unusual last name—that could only mean one possible thing: this young boy was going to grow to be Luke's father.  Other pieces that Luke had told him about the future began to come together in his mind, though he had yet to have enough to fit it together into a whole; Luke had been so cautious to avoid mentioning specifics to him, more than likely, for this very reason.  Or maybe other reasons of his own.

            Obi-Wan released Anakin's hand and glanced at Qui-Gon.  His Master gave the tiniest of nods and Obi-Wan finally began to have glimmer of understanding of why it had taken his Master so long on Tatooine: Qui-Gon, too, had remember the last name of Skywalker and had done all that he could to get this Force-talented boy out of slavery.  

            Obi-Wan frowned a little.  Something else about this seemed odd, but he decided to ignore the feeling for a little while.  The Force would let him know when it was time for him to understand and not before.  Right now, something else held more import to him than Luke's ancestors.

            Turning to Qui-Gon, he asked, "What was that?"

The End 

Well, that's it then. Send comments and reviews of course. And look for another by me (with more Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan angst/torture and none of Luke) called 'Exquisite Pain: Linked'…which should appear at the same time this chapter does. Thanks for hanging in the ride with me. I feel very satisfied with this ending and I hope you do too.


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